Post by Lucy Wilkinson

Three months ago I relocated to the US on international assignment for my third rotation on the Global Operations Graduate Programme at AstraZeneca - and what a few months it has been!   As a Supply Chain Product Lead at Frederick Manufacturing Center (FMC), I am responsible for leading a cross-functional tech transfer team to scale up and establish the commercial manufacturing process for the monoclonal antibody (mAb) component of one of our novel antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). Stepping into the world of biologics from a predominantly small molecule background has brought an intense but fascinating learning curve, and I'm grateful to my manager Byron Halsey and the wider FMC team for their incredible support and leadership throughout my transition.   Alongside this, I've taken on an additional Plan100 position as a CMC Project Manager within Global Biologics in Gaithersburg, supporting high-impact lifecycle and pre-commercial ADC products. This role centres on translating strategy into executable plans, coordinating cross-functional delivery, and ensuring product continuity post-BLA through robust governance, risk management, and stakeholder engagement. Andre Sobral, Shakir Muradymov   Together, these roles have marked a significant step up in responsibility at this point in my career and a great opportunity to understand the mechanics of both the site and global-level operations that enable us to deliver life-changing ADC medicines to patients.   I also wanted to take a moment to thank my team in my previous rotation, where I spent a fantastic 10 months as a Process Engineer working on the design of AZ's new end-to-end ADC facility in Singapore. Last week I had the opportunity to discuss my time on the project at the Global Graduate Symposium, focusing on how synthetic route development and adaptive facility design go hand in hand to ensure we can manufacture a broad spectrum of products across our portfolio. I can't wait to continue to follow the construction and commissioning journey of the site over the coming years. Rachel D., Tim Wrate, Graham Rutherford, Oliver Freeman, Asher Martin, Holly Pemberton, Andrew Turley, Ana Locatelli, Hui Zheng.   Looking forward to what the next few months bring in the US!