Uquifa
A Legacy of Quality Product Delivery with a New Twist

In order to truly help biotech and pharmaceutical companies in their journey from drug development to commercialization, contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) have begun to incorporate the latest innovations in all aspects of their operations.

Whether this implementation happens in science, in manufacturing equipment, or communication technologies, CDMOs are pushing the boundaries and making changes. One area that may be less tangible is the management of the relationship with their customers, as well as the management of the customers’ programs. Sponsor companies and their suppliers are starting to work together more collaboratively than ever before, to ensure positive outcomes. Successful delivery of a program on time, first time, translates into time and cost savings. The main driving force behind this evolutional change revolves around the need for reduction of drug development costs which in turn opens new avenues for better patient care. However, there are still companies hesitant to enter into completely open and collaborative partnerships. Some CDMOs, thus, have taken it upon themselves to incorporate leading-edge solutions to help streamline project and customer management. Uquifa, a leading CDMO headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, further raises the bar in the delivery of pharmaceutical ingredients with its fit-for-purpose small molecule development and manufacturing capabilities and its new approach to project management.

Founded in 1936, Uquifa carries a long and successful legacy of producing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediates. “We are very competitive and continuously push ourselves to become more efficient in delivering high-quality APIs for our customers,” expresses Andrea Oro, VP and head of business development for North America at Uquifa. The company incorporates agile methodologies to help overcome various barriers or constraints, resulting in a lean and efficient manufacturing culture. Today, Uquifa maintains cGMP-compliant facilities in Mexico, Spain, and Hungary, marrying the high-quality culture of those regulated markets while ensuring low operational and overhead costs for all its clients. But “the measure of a quality contract manufacturer cannot be gauged only on the delivery of the product. It must include other aspects throughout the production journey such as open communication, flexibility, responsiveness, and excellence in customer service. The customer experience is paramount,” adds Andrea.

Embracing ‘Agile” to Improve Customer Experience

The company’s integrated project teams (IPT) work toward achieving a constant and open flow of information creating a very cooperative environment.

The CDMO’s expert professionals gain comprehensive insights from each new project they encounter and from direct customer feedback. Then, they share these learnings with the IPT in order to improve on their performance for the next project.

“Within the daily pressures that are part of the very nature of the contract development and manufacturing business, we pause to understand our customers’ expectations and we are flexible enough to allow for change with every new case that comes our way,” adds Andrea. Uquifa’s staff implements a project management practice that is heavily influenced by IT agile principles. Additionally, this integrated project management culture managed by Uquifa has streamlined various execution and delivery processes. This enables the company to tackle one of the industry’s biggest challenges: the transfer of technology effectively without loss of time and know-how.

The industry’s standard approach revolves around employing a single, dedicated network, with multiple, consecutive phases or gates. In some cases, there are separate end-users with complex contractual terms as well. The common denominator is the sequential nature, the static planning, and the transfer of risk and liability among the parties, which contributes to a siloed effect—curbing the collaborative experience during a project. This rigid approach is growing increasingly fragile. Nevertheless, Uquifa’s agile methodologies go the extra mile to eliminate constraints and create a cooperative environment that promotes enthusiastic participation as well as a commonly shared vision. “Our experience in tech transferring programs at advanced clinical trial phases, coupled with our unique approach to project management, has been instrumental to our company’s success,” Andrea explains.

Union of Efficient Facility Management and Scientific Excellence

Uquifa’s staff maintains an incredible grip on the scientific aspects of the business, which was augmented by the company’s acquisition of Soneas, in 2018. “Soneas is the perfect fit for Uquifa allowing the company to capitalize on 25 years of scientific excellence,” shares Andrea. Since its inception, Soneas has been focused on finding synthetic routes at the early stages of drug development that result in scalable and robust processes with less time, effort, and funds being spent at later stages. The marriage of the two organizations has given the company the ability to support customers from pre-clinical development to on-going commercial supply.

The Road Ahead

With such a holistic and customer-centric approach in conducting business as a CDMO, Uquifa takes the mantel as one of the best solutions providers in today’s European market. Its collaboration with a large American biotechnology company further shows the level of service and efficiency that Uquifa brings to its clients. Through this partnership, the company has participated in the supply chain for the production of intermediates necessary to produce an FDA-approved treatment for COVID-19. The company is extremely proud of this organisational milestone and intends to continually enhance its prowess as it has done for the past 85 years. Moving forward, Uquifa is set to expand its scientific knowledge, with the potential of facilities opening in new locations. By implementing the latest technologies into its workflows, the company is anticipating a new line of solutions and services to be added to its already extensive portfolio.