- After so many years working at Asac Pharmaceutical Immunology, could you tell us how the company has evolved over the years? What is the greatest challenge you have faced as a production manager?
It has been over thirty years since I joined Asac Pharmaceutical Immunology as production manager; logically in the period that has elapsed, complex situations have arisen – such as the creation of IPI, International Pharmaceutical Immunology and its launch, which involved much hard work and marked the beginning of what we are today.
The subsequent establishment of the branch offices was a great challenge in terms of adapting to the idiosyncrasies of the world of allergenic and bacterial vaccines in each of the countries currently present. Furthermore, a great deal of planning, programming and coordination work has been done and continues to be done today by all departments with our branch offices in order to respond to their market needs.
Not to mention that much has been invested in the remodelling of our facilities and their launch, both in financial and human terms, by our company’s entire workforce over the years, thanks to which we can continue making and selling our vaccines.
- The renovation of the facilities has enabled Asac Pharmaceutical Immunology to adapt to European regulations and optimise production processes; what has this renovation meant for you?
As I mentioned before, the remodelling of our facilities has entailed a major financial investment by our Board of Directors, showing their confidence in and support for a pharmaceutical sector as unique as the allergen vaccine and autogenous bacterin vaccine sector.
Nevertheless, I would like to highlight the enormous amount of work and efforts carried out by the entire company in the updating and growth processes and by the technical department in their constant drive to adapt to regulations and developments – thanks to which we can keep on striving and working to further grow in the future.
All these efforts have resulted in a modern, cutting-edge factory with improved performance that, together with our commitment to R&D, has enabled us to launch new products on the market with the highest quality and safety measures for the patient.
- Regarding production processes, what standards do you follow in the manufacturing your products to achieve batch-to-batch reproducibility?
The operation of a manufacturing facility for allergenic and bacterial vaccines intrinsically requires Quality Control Department and Quality Assurance Departments. The Production, Quality Control and Quality Assurance Departments work in coordination as a team that constantly seeks to comply with the European Union’s Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), which guarantees the quality and safety of our vaccines.
All our manufacturing processes are valid to guarantee reproducibility in the different production stages. This involves monitoring all our products, including the biological standardisation of each batch of allergen extract produced, the determination of the content of major allergens and the characterisation of the protein content. This allows us to maintain the equivalence of the batch-to-batch allergenic activity of the extract on each allergen, and consequently the activity between the initial vaccine of a personalised treatment and booster vaccines.
Of course, we must highlight that to manufacture these personalised vaccines, we need experts who are specifically trained and qualified and in constant training, forming a perfectly coordinated team.
- At the manufacturing level, how do you keep up to date with the latest innovations?
Our Research and Development Department keeps our Manufacturing Department up-to-date on current and future developments.
The extension of the allergen panel, as well as the development of new products and formulations, has been proposed the Research Department, which works closely with the Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, Quality Control and Quality Assurance Departments when it comes to bringing a new product to market. This partnership allows for the updating of the product panel, such as those launched in the last year.
The company’s commitment to R&D is key to the progress we are experiencing and to continue growing in national and international markets.
- What are your short- and long-term goals? Where do you see Asac Pharmaceutical Immunology in ten years’ time?
The goal of Asac Pharmaceutical Immunology is to continue growing, both nationally and internationally, in order to become a benchmark in the field of allergen and bacterial vaccines.
For this to happen we need a collective, coordinated effort by all of us at API and the different departments involved in the constant updating of the Good Manufacturing Practices.
In addition, maintaining our company philosophy, which entails an ongoing commitment to R&D, investing in cutting-edge technologies and tools and a forward-looking approach will allow us to plan the marketing of new vaccines, as this is the key to continuous improvement and to achieving our goals.
