The annual BioProcess International US West Conference & Exhibition will be held March 29–30 virtually. The conference consists of six tracks: Cell Line Development & Engineering; Cell Culture; Recovery & Purification; Manufacturing Strategy & Bioprocessing 4.0; Intensified & Continuous Processing; Cell & Gene Therapies; and the 4^th Annual BioInnovation Group Technology Session. BioProcess International US West also features virtual exhibit hubs, technology showcase presentations, scientific posters and live networking sessions.

IBO spoke with Howie Choi, Event Marketing Manager, about the conference and exhibit.

Can you provide a brief history of Bioprocess West? For example, growth in attendance.

BioProcess International US West launched in 2016 as an extension of our flagship BioProcess International Conference & Exhibition which is held annually in Boston every September.

The BPI US West event gathered 500–600 attendees during its first year but now generates an audience size of 1000+ attendees consisting of scientists, senior executives and suppliers working across the entire spectrum of biopharmaceutical development and production.

As our 2021 event in March is virtual, we’re also implementing a free virtual exhibition visitor pass that allows attendees to view and interact with all of our exhibitors who will be showcasing novel bioprocessing technologies.

Are there any particular sessions or speakers that organizers are particularly excited about this year?

We’re excited about all of our speakers of course, but we have some great keynote speakers for this year’s virtual event including Thomas Seewoester, VP of External Operations at Amgen, and Kimball Hall, COO of Abzena, just to name a few.

Are there any benefits to being virtual this year that are specific to this conference?

Virtual events are perceived as less valuable, but the truth is there are so many pros. For example, BPI US West is a 6-track event with 150+ presentations so in a virtual setting, attendees can now watch all presentations across all 6 tracks since we record our presentations and make them available to watch for an additional 30 days on demand after the event.

Plus, there are no travel or hotel costs and you can also skip the dry cleaning bill!

In addition to the conference going virtual this year, in general, have you made any changes from last year in terms of content, focus, presentation type etc. (for example, more talks devoted to a certain trend in bioprocessing)?

Our content continues to focus on scientific breakthroughs in bioprocessing that can help our global industry accelerate speed to market for next generation mAbs, vaccines and novel biological products.

One emerging topic that is gaining a lot of interest is the implementation of bioprocess 4.0 or “smart manufacturing”—we’ve created a dedicated conference track to this topic. We’ve also launched a brand-new virtual event on COVID-19 Therapeutic Development & Production which is receiving a lot of positive feedback from our customers.

To download the complete agenda, click here.

IBO will be covering new products at the conference in our April 15th issue.