Name: Alex Garner
How long have you been with Metrics Contract Services?
About two and a half years.
What is your role?
Formulation Development Scientist
What accomplishment/project/area of work is your specialty or makes you proud?
For eight years prior to working in the formulation development group at Metrics Contract Services, I worked in analytical development. My analytical and formulation development experiences together have afforded me the ability to see the entire picture of what goes into developing a new drug product. Having this background gives me an additional tool to be able to understand and predict how changes in any given formulation could affect the release profile and stability of the final product as well as the potential impact to the analytical testing methods. Knowing this information up front allows me to develop a better product more efficiently and communicate effectively with the analytical team members. In light of this, I am part of a team working on outfitting a new “fast track development lab” where clients will be able to take advantage of my analytical skills with the goal of obtaining early phase prototype results quicker, allowing formulation development activities to progress at a faster rate.
Are there any special organizational strategies you use to be efficient at work?
Being highly organized is key in order to succeed in the CDMO sector. We have several resource/equipment scheduling tools that keep all projects aligned and carried out in the most efficient means possible.
What are your team’s latest achievements?
My team’s flexibility and agility allowed us to complete several Phase 2 CTM batch resupplies needed by a client to continue their ongoing clinical trial. There was a shortage of the product at the clinic. We were able to manufacture three batches of the product with less than a month’s notice to keep the clinical trial progressing.
How do you think those accomplishments might impact the contract pharmaceutical industry and the industry at large?
Being flexible and agile are excellent attributes to have in the contract pharmaceutical industry. We are here to help our clients achieve their project goals and timelines with a high-quality product in mind. By doing this, we are fulfilling the needs of our clients, but also the patients that benefit from the products.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part of my job is being able to receive a drug molecule and develop that into a final formulation that helps people who are suffering. As scientists, when we can see something we helped develop make someone’s life better, that is very rewarding.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received from one of your mentors/colleagues? There are so many small details that go into manufacturing a new drug product, making it is easy to lose sight of the reason we are doing our jobs. It’s important to remember that the final product will ease someone’s pain or treat their disease. We are in the business of helping people, which makes all the effort to develop and manufacture a viable product worthwhile.
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