Smart Biotech Scientist | The CMC and Bioprocessing Podcast for Process Development and Manufacturing Leaders
The go-to CMC and biomanufacturing podcast for bioprocess development scientists and CMC leaders scaling biologics into regulatory-ready therapies with less trial and error.
Practical, execution-focused, and strategic guidance on CMC development, tech transfer, scale-up, GMP readiness, CDMO partnerships, and manufacturing economics for biologics, cell and gene therapies, cultivated meat, and biomaterials.
Hosted by Dr. David Brühlmann, CMC strategist, former Bioprocess Innovation Manager at Merck, PhD in glycoengineering, and close to 20 years of biomanufacturing experience. Smart Biotech Scientist delivers actionable insights for the people doing the hard work of turning promising molecules into scalable, regulatory-ready therapies.
This podcast is for you if:
- You are a process development scientist or CMC lead managing a technology transfer, scale-up, or CDMO partnership
- You are a biologics developer working on upstream or downstream process development, cell culture optimization, or GMP manufacturing readiness
- You are a biotech founder preparing for an IND filing or Series A fundraise, and need a CMC strategy that holds up under investor and regulatory scrutiny
- You are building or advising an early-stage biopharma team and need to make smart manufacturing decisions with limited resources
What you will learn:
CMC strategy and regulatory planning, bioprocess scale-up from lab to clinical and commercial manufacturing, cell culture process development and media optimization, technology transfer best practices, CDMO selection and partnership management, hybrid modeling, manufacturing economics, continuous manufacturing, digitization, and Industry 4.0 in biopharma.
Top 10 life sciences podcast with 200+ episodes and guests from Merck, FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, Cytiva, KBI Biopharma, Eppendorf, and biotech innovators worldwide.
New episodes released weekly. Subscribe and join 400+ biotech leaders already using these insights to accelerate development, reduce manufacturing costs, and de-risk scale-up.
Next Steps:
Visit the Website: https://smartbiotechscientist.com
Email us: hello@bruehlmann-consulting.com
Smart Biotech Scientist | The CMC and Bioprocessing Podcast for Process Development and Manufacturing Leaders
208: Cryogenic Infrared Ion Spectroscopy: From Mass Spec Limitations to Molecular Precision with Tom Rizzo - Part 2
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What if you could analyze every metabolite, glycan variant, and unknown impurity in your bioprocess sample—not just the targets you're looking for, but everything that's actually there? Cryogenic infrared ion spectroscopy combined (CIRIS) with AI-powered analysis transforms untargeted screening from aspiration to reality.
This episode moves from fundamental principles to practical applications. While Part 1 established how CIRIS overcomes mass spectrometry's structural limitations, Part 2 reveals what becomes possible when you can definitively identify complex mixtures: better mAb characterization, earlier disease detection, and process decisions based on complete data rather than educated guesses.
Professor Tom Rizzo returns to discuss Isospec Analytics' path from laboratory innovation to commercial service platform. His transition from academic leadership at EPFL to biotech entrepreneurship offers insights for any scientist considering whether breakthrough research deserves a startup—and what that journey actually requires.
For bioprocess scientists drowning in unidentified peaks, struggling with glycan heterogeneity, or making critical manufacturing decisions with incomplete analytical data, this conversation demonstrates how next-generation analytics powered by quantum chemistry and machine learning can illuminate what's been hidden in your samples all along.
Episode Highlights:
- Why targeted metabolomics creates a "streetlight effect"—and how untargeted CIRIS analysis reveals the complete molecular landscape (00:00)
- Isomer-specific glycan characterization for mAbs: distinguishing structural variants that impact efficacy and immunogenicity (03:17)
- Advanced disease detection and biomarker discovery: identifying diagnostic signatures in complex biological matrices (05:21)
- AI meets quantum chemistry: automated spectral library building and machine learning algorithms that accelerate molecule identification from hours to seconds (06:05)
- From data generation to decision-making: how comprehensive analytics and AI transform bioprocess development workflows (09:23)
- Isospec's commercial roadmap: service platform for comprehensive sample analysis and projected timeline for benchtop instrumentation (10:09)
- Academic to entrepreneur: Tom Rizzo's perspective on leaving tenure for a startup, with practical advice for scientists evaluating the leap (12:05)
- Personal motivation behind early diagnostics: cancer and leukemia experiences that drive Isospec's clinical applications (14:11)
- Technical deep dive: messenger tagging methodology and achieving single-ion infrared detection sensitivity (15:41)
- The transformative capability: adding a structural dimension to mass spec data that eliminates ambiguity in complex mixture analysis (17:55)
Mass spectrometry tells you what masses are present. Cryogenic infrared ion spectroscopy tells you what molecules they actually are. When coupled with AI-powered analysis, this combination enables truly comprehensive characterization—from process impurity identification to critical quality attribute assessment to early disease biomarker discovery.
If you're making bioprocess decisions with incomplete analytical information, managing glycan complexity in biologics development, or exploring how emerging analytical technologies could solve your toughest characterization challenges, this episode provides both the technical foundation and the commercial pathway forward.
Connect with Tom Ri
One bad CDMO decision can cost you two years and your Series A. If you're navigating tech transfer, CDMO selection, or IND prep, let's talk before it gets expensive. Two slots open this month.