Peter Blennerhassett and Bartlomiej Baran are the brains behind Blynksolve, a software platform that helps big pharma speed up the introduction of new manufacturing processes and reduce risk.
Pharma manufacturing is complex and, having worked as a process engineer with some of the biggest names in the business, Blennerhassett was all too familiar with the hitches that slow things down. Part of the complexity is due to the sheer number of people involved and when this is added to all the other moving parts, the potential for delays is significant. In short, it’s not an easy problem to solve but, undaunted, Blennerhassett and Baran joined forces in 2022 to take it on.
“The problem we’re addressing is the lack of clarity around complex manufacturing processes and the challenge of getting everyone on the same page so they can do their work efficiently,” Blennerhassett says. “A huge problem faced by the industry is that knowledge of these complex and layered processes is fractured, siloed and completely unclear. As a result people are struggling to make the right decisions, hit timelines and assure product quality.”
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With multiple stakeholders, whose decisions depend on and affect each other, Blennerhassett says existing systems fail to address the problem as a whole. “Most solutions are only focused on one particular group. They are also typically based around arranging information in tables and the processes involved are far too complex for that.
“By contrast, Blynksolve is a highly visual, user-friendly solution that acts as a one-stop shop for all the manufacturing knowledge involved. There is no shortage of software for pharma, but in general those producing it lack an understanding of their end-user and of the subtleties that exist in pharma. Having been there I understand the issues from personal experience.”
At the heart of Blynksolve is a digital knowledge twin which mimics the relevant manufacturing process and allows it to be designed “offline” with input from all relevant stakeholders. Having the capacity to identify and solve potential problems in advance speeds up and de-risks the path to production while also providing clarity around the manufacturing process, improving efficiency and minimising the margin for error. “Knowledge loss has also become a challenge with high industry turnover rates so one of the other benefits of our system is that it builds knowledge resilience for manufacturing improvement, troubleshooting and leveraging new processes,” Blennerhassett says.
For strategic reasons the founders jumped in at the deep end by addressing the problems that dog the early and more complex stages of pharma production where it’s the substances that go into drugs that are being produced rather than the end-consumer product. “The problems are more acute at this point so it was the logical place to start, but Blynksolve can be tweaked for application further into the manufacturing cycle,” Blennerhassett says.
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he first version of Blynksolve was released last March and the decision to launch in Ireland was based on the fact that 19 of the 20 top pharma companies in the world have a presence here. The company, whose solution will have applications in areas such as biologics and cell and gene therapy, already has one major manufacturer on board as a paying customer with a number of others showing interest in the SaaS-based product.
“We’ve pinned our start-up costs at around €215,000 which has come from the NDRC [National Digital Research Centre] and Enterprise Ireland through its pre-seed start fund and the New Frontiers programme at TU Tallaght. We’ve also had support from LEO [Local Enterprise Office] South Dublin,” Blennerhassett says. “Bartlomiej has a background in electronic and computer engineering so we are fortunate that he could do most of the development work in-house. Without his expertise the costs would have run well over €300,000. We have big ambitions for growth and will be raising funds later in the year to achieve those goals.”
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