Bioprocessing
Overview
Biologic therapies hold huge promise, from biosimilars that improve access to high-cost treatments, to groundbreaking cell and gene therapies that offer hope to critically ill patients. The manufacturing of these complex therapies, is critical to the function and promise for therapeutic potential. Bioproduction equipment, reagent, and service providers face complex challenges working to define, develop, and scale processes to produce these therapies. Challenges include understanding how processes are evolving, what demand exists in the market, which new technologies need to be adapted, and what positioning will stay ahead of the competition.
We are committed to helping our clients navigate these challenges and capture the unprecedented opportunities to produce these advanced therapies.
Who We Are
Our team of PhDs and MBAs with hands-on experience in biopharma laboratories and GMP production facilities is uniquely positioned to serve clients in the bioprocessing market.
- We understand the complex interplay between the technical, logistical, and business considerations in bioprocessing
- Our bioprocessing team members are dedicated to this area, ensuring we keep up with emerging technologies and trends and our recommendations reflect state-of-the-art approaches

Who We Serve
We collaborate with bioprocessing tools and service companies at all stages to develop business strategies meeting future bioprocessing needs.
- Instrument manufacturers
- Consumables and reagents suppliers
- Software developers
- Cold chain and logistics firms
- CDMOs and other service providers
- Investors
Bioprocessing Case Studies
A global manufacturer and supplier of bioproduction instruments and consumables wanted to ensure it achieved disproportionate growth through developing market-leading solutions for cell and gene therapy manufacturers. Health Advances assessed the types of cell and gene therapies positioned for rapid growth as well as the unit operations with the greatest technical challenges and unmet need and mapped this to the company’s existing capabilities and most accessible technology adjacencies. These findings were utilized to develop a long-term roadmap for product development and identification of high-priority M&A opportunities.
A supplier of reagents primarily used in manufacturing nucleic acids had experienced rapid growth and was interested in exploring opportunities to sustain that growth through building out a robust suite of contract services. Health Advances undertook a multifaceted approach by incorporating direct feedback from conversations with process development and manufacturing experts to understand needs and trends, conducting a survey of potential customers, assessing the competitive landscape of service providers, and identifying key gaps where our client could differentiate themselves. Health Advances provided a summary of the key service offerings that would position them for growth, the technical capabilities needed to develop these service offerings, and ancillary features such as project management that would add value and ensure customer retention.
A large bioprocessing contract development and manufacturing organization engaged Health Advances to evaluate the current performance of its growing protein therapy development business. In partnership with the client, the team developed a detailed interview guide to probe on service provider awareness, selection process, perceptions of the client against its key competitors, and opportunities for the client. The team then recruited and interviewed over 50 hand-selected bioprocessing industry experts across a range of established and emerging biopharma companies and geographies (US, Europe, Asia) with vendor decision-making responsibility. The resulting final report gave the client a customer-centric assessment of its current business performance and clear strategies to grow its business moving forward.
Working with a large US chemicals company, Health Advances evaluated the current and future state of packaging and manufacturing solutions for the pharmaceutical industry, including opportunities across single use consumables for upstream and downstream processing, packaging solutions for pharmaceuticals, materials for contamination control, and materials and logistics solutions for global supply chains. The team conducted interviews with industry experts and supported findings with secondary research. As part of the project, the team developed recommendations around 3 tangible opportunities for further research – enabling next generation perfusion culture, developing next generation filters for optimized depth filtration, and developing novel low-volume 2-8°C shippers for biologics.
A leading private equity and venture capital firm explored an investment in a provider of life science reagents and services for genomics and protein science applications and enlisted Health Advances to validate the attractiveness of the opportunity. Our team evaluated the overall outlook of the market and obtained a comprehensive "outside in" view of market size, market trends, customer segments, competitive dynamics, unmet needs, and value drivers by drawing from discussions with industry experts and published literature. The resulting deliverable helped the client make an investment decision.
News
7/23/2019
Launch of Health Advances Asia Limited Extends APAC Capability
The opening of Health Advances Asia Limited leverages the firm’s 20+ years of experience in the Asia/Pacific region to help both local and multi-national companies looking to expand their global footprint.
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2/6/2019
MedTech Expert, Tracy Walters, Promoted to Partner
We are delighted to announce the promotion of "Tracy Walters":/leadership/#tracy-walters to Partner of the firm. Tracy has excelled during her 12.5 years with the firm as one of the senior leaders of the MedTech Practice working with a wide variety of medical device clients ranging from small start-ups to some of the largest public companies in the industry. She is particularly accomplished in product forecasting, financial modeling, and international markets.
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11/20/2018
The Boston Globe Names Health Advances a Top Place to Work for 2018
Health Advances has been named one of the Top Places to Work in Massachusetts in the 11th annual employee-based survey project from The Boston Globe.
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7/11/2018
Health Advances Team Publishes Compelling Payer Budget Impact Analysis for Tactile Medical
"Julia Gaebler":/leadership/#julia-a-gaebler-phd, Partner, led a team (including Adam Cohen, Engagement Manger; Jessica Izhakoff, Consultant, and Laura Gullett, Senior Analyst) to assess the budget impact to a US commercial health plan of providing access to the Flexitouch (FLX) advanced pneumatic compression device to lymphedema patients with either comorbid chronic venous insufficiency or frequent infections.
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7/11/2018
Health Advances Team Publishes Compelling Economic Data for Tactile Medical
"Julia Gaebler":/leadership/#julia-a-gaebler-phd, Partner, led a team (including Michelle Lerman, Engagement Manager; Jessica Izhakoff, Senior Analyst, and Laura Gullett, Senior Analyst) to analyze the economic outcomes and medical resource use associated with Tactile Medical’s Flexitouch device vs. alternative therapies for phlebolymphedema patients.
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6/1/2018
Health Advances Celebrates 26 Years
In June of this year, Health Advances will celebrate its 26th Anniversary of supporting clients in the healthcare industry.
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6/1/2018
Health Advances’ San Francisco Office Celebrates Ten Years
Health Advances recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of our San Francisco office. The success and rapid growth of this office reflect the strong relationships we have built with clients across biopharma, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, and private equity.
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2/15/2018
Health Advances Hires Three Vice Presidents
Darcy Krzynowek, Balazs Felcsuti, and Ruggero Rossi recently joined Health Advances as Vice Presidents in the Boston area office. “We are delighted to be able to attract these three talented industry leaders to complement our management team. Each of them brings unique skills and experiences that will expand our offerings to clients and enrich our consulting teams,” explained Paula Ness Speers, Co-Founder of Health Advances.
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1/18/2018
Winners of the Boston Pediatric Device Strategic Partner Challenge Unveiled
"The Boston Pediatric Device Strategic Partner Challenge(BPDC)":https://www.bostonpdc.org/ attracted an eclectic applicant pool of entrepreneurs and innovators from around the globe.
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9/11/2017
Health Advances Partners with Boston Children’s Hospital to Launch Pediatric Device Challenge
Health Advances is proud to be a provider partner to the Boston Pediatric Device Strategic Partner Challenge! This Challenge addresses the critical need for pediatric device development, and we are thrilled to partner with the Boston Pediatric Device Consortium and the Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator at Boston Children’s Hospital to promote this exciting opportunity – see full press release "here":http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boston-childrens-hospital-and-boston-pediatric-device-consortium-launch-pediatric-medical-device-challenge-300517063.html.
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4/19/2017
Health Advances Honored by Forbes as One of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms
Health Advances has been honored by Forbes as One of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms for 2017.
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2/16/2017
Health Advances Celebrates 25 Years
In June of this year, Health Advances will celebrate its 25th Anniversary of supporting clients in the healthcare industry. We are proud of the fact that the company has stayed true to its initial vision of helping clients commercialize meaningful new products and services that improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare. We are also proud of the talented employees and alumni/ae who have helped build the firm’s reputation for responsiveness, insight and integrity.
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