Episode 005 - Dave Stevens – microbial therapeutics, pharmaceutical manufacturing, building a best-in-class contract development manufacturing organisation

Learn more about the podcast here - https://insidematters.health/

David (Dave) Stevens is the CEO of Arranta Bio, a leading contract development manufacturing organisation that specialises in advanced therapies, including microbiome therapeutics. ArrantaBio supports many of the world's leading microbiome companies that develop and manufacture novel drugs for the benefit of patients around the world.

Dave was formerly the Senior Vice President and Head of AMRI’s Drug Product business unit where he had P&L responsibility for sales and operations. During his tenure, he led the division through a period of significant growth and capacity expansion. Before leading the division, Dave held senior leadership roles at AMRI including Vice President, Sales & Marketing and General Manager of a sterile dosage form development and GMP manufacturing facility.

Dave is a native Scot that is passionate about building Scotland into a global leader in life sciences, as well as being a big believer in the power of the microbiome to benefit health.

- 0:00 Intro - 1:14: jet lag, training, intermittent fasting - 3:40 what motivates you to work - 5:00 moving from startup to scale up - 5:30 challenges in microbiome manufacturing / microbial fermentation - 5:58 what is a contract development manufacturing organisation (CDMO)? - 7:00 challenges for the microbiome field - 7:30 the microbiome as a therapeutic target - 09:40 intermittent fasting - 10:33 health span and lifespan - 12:37 what does ArrantaBio do - 14:00 mRNA technology - overcoming challenges and realising promises - 17:35 a Scottish success story - 21:18 mindset in Scotland vs USA - 27:15 how to become life sciences capital of the world - 32:27 first approved microbiome therapies - 35:12 characterisation of the microbial ecosystems - 37:20 dogs and depression - 38:10 types of microbiome therapies - 42:36 competing with other CDMOs - 46:02 manufacturing probiotics - 47:10 Good manufacturing practice - 48:50 Probiotics - 50:41 lost the screen - 51:50 innovation in the microbiome field - 53:00 lyophilisation - 54:24 Fermentation systems - 55:25 EnteroBiotix - 57:00 the gut-brain axis - 58:35 how good gut health makes you feel - 1:00:02 Gene therapy and the costs of cures - 1:03:00 the start of ArrantaBio and vision for the future - 1:08:00 buying the best to be the best - 1:10:30 leading organisations - 1:11:20 being a leader - 1:15:10 spending time with the best to be the best - 1:17:30 being a vision and mission-driven company - 1:17:45 the future of ArrantaBio