Building a Canadian CDMO from grad school

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Lisa Studnicki Hunt, Ph.D, Co-Founder and Board Member, GL CHEMTEC.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Lisa, covering:

• How her passion for problem solving led her to cofound a CDMO straight out of grad school
• How, without an established industry network, she focused on developing her core skill set and immersing herself in a different culture
• Figuring things out day by day, while pursuing opportunities aligned with the company’s long term vision
• Positioning the business as “innovation experts” to differentiate in a competitive and fragmented CRO and CDMO market
• How the pandemic accelerated demand and growth, ultimately leading to a well timed private equity deal
• The “misbehaving of the market” over the last few years, and how a Canadian CDMO is positioned amid geopolitical shifts involving the US and China

Lisa co-founded GL CHEMTEC INTERNATIONAL in 2002 and has played a key role in growing the organization across both operations and commercial functions for more than two decades.  She also now serves on several boards and is passionate about philanthropy and supporting non-profit organizations.

Lisa began her academic journey with a degree in Natural Sciences from John Abbott College. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science with Honours, with a minor in French, and a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Toronto. She later completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Organic Polymer Chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany.

Lisa has authored several scientific publications and holds multiple patents. Alongside her scientific credentials, Lisa has continued to build her commercial and business expertise. She earned her Professional Sales Designation from the Canadian Professional Sales Association in 2008, completed the E2: Entrepreneur’s Edge course at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2009, attended Harvard Business School in 2015 under the guidance of renowned professor Clayton Christensen, and completed the Marketing Innovation course at MIT Sloan School of Management in 2017.

Molecule to Market is also sponsored by Bora Pharmaceuticals and supported by Lead Candidate. Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!