Blog

The NHS published its much anticipated Long Term Plan today, Monday 7th January 2019. "The NHS will be the first health service in the world to offer whole genome sequencing for children with cancer and young people who have a rare genetic disorder, in addition to adults suffering from certain rare conditions or specific cancers." We still have many hurdles to jump over befo...

It’s no longer a secret that Cell & Gene Therapy is now considered the future of healthcare. That said, the number of market approvals has only just about hit double figures, each of which are still experiencing their own commercialisation hurdles that we are learning from every day. Nonetheless we have completed the cycle 10 times over, we know we can do it and we have an i...

It is now almost two weeks since myself and my colleague Steve Smith volunteered at Rarefest and I have to say I am still so inspired by the people we met, the stories that were told and the extraordinary performances we saw. Since then I have been reviewing the literature that we took away from the event and have been further inspired, reading about new developments in the ...

I am in constant contact with validation professionals and often think about what makes people successful in this sector, besides having strong technical skills. It is important to understand what other skills are needed when carrying out such an important role, because ultimately it will have an impact on the result of the work you do. Jim Harper, a highly experienced Valid...

My daughter is 6 years old and one of the wisest people I have ever known. A few days ago I asked her the question that I used to dread being asked when I was a child; the question that is so open-ended that it seems exciting to ask, but is rather unfair to the recipient: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I almost kicked myself for saying it. As soon as the words le...

Two months ago, we gained a new colleague here at Next Phase. Steve Smith is our new Head of Rare Disease and Gene Therapy and his appointment started me thinking about the rare disease sector and how medical devices play a part here. A rare disease is defined by the European Union as one that affects less than 5 in 10,000 of the general population, whilst the FDA define thi...

At first thought, it may seem a little far-fetched to think that choosing a recruitment partner can mean life or death for your patients. Delve deeper however, and it doesn’t take long to realise just how much of a ripple effect the often polar-opposite methodologies used by recruiters can really mean just that…. If we were to split recruiters into 2 categories (outside of j...

I wrote recently about the skills you need to have a successful career in Validation, looking beyond simply having strong technical knowledge. I explored what differentiates a great Validation Lead from a good one (read here if you haven’t yet: What skills do you need to work in Validation?). Building on this, I have now had the privilege to gain additional insight from a QA...

I have been asked many times what the dress code will be for an interview. Whilst it seems like a question with a straightforward answer, it isn’t always that simple! When your clients are pharmaceutical and biotech businesses it obviously raises the question in a candidate’s head “What is the dress code?”, because no-one wants to be under-dressed or over-dressed. A couple o...

Technology is ever evolving and manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to give their product the market edge. It is unsurprising that communication between humans and machines is at the forefront of this, after all we are becoming ever dependent on technology and what it can offer us. From Alexa reminding us to pick up milk to our iPhone’s providing us with navigation...