Our Services
Technical R&D Expertise
​Working with your team, these are the areas in which Apex Bio can help:
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Optimize bioprocesses: Advise on strain development, fermentation, and DSP for cost reduction
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Assess technology viability: Evaluate technical feasibility and scale-up challenges for novel bioprocesses
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Navigate R&D operational challenges: Provide guidance on managing R&D pipelines, outside services and key enabling equipment
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De-risk development: Identify and mitigate key technical risks early in the process
Strategic Market Insights for Product Development
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Market and competitive analysis: Providing clear, experience-based insight into industrial biotech markets, particularly in the US.
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Evaluate new opportunities: Assess the technical and commercial potential of new products and technologies
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Develop sound strategy: build effective technical and business development strategies to give the highest chance of success from your team's innovations
Investment and Due Diligence Support
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Technical due diligence: Give an expert assessment of biotech companies and technologies available for investment
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Evaluate IP and Risk: Provide an understanding of the IP landscape and core technical risks
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Assess scalability: Generate realistic evaluations of manufacturing scale-up, where the end-state of technology could lie, and when fundamentals of biology and process design will limit economics
Direct Value for Clients:
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Actionable recommendations: clear, objective advice, grounded in real-world experience
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Senior-level expertise: access to time-bound, pay as you need it expertise without adding long-term overhead
Technical Expertise: Helping to Solve Your Microbial Strain Development & Fermentation Challenges
With a deep technical background in industrial biotechnology, I bring extensive hands-on experience to help your organization overcome hurdles and achieve breakthroughs in microbial strain development and fermentation. If you're facing technical bottlenecks, seeking to optimize your processes, or exploring novel approaches to bioproduction, I can provide the expertise you need to move forward with confidence.​
My core technical strengths encompass:​
Microbial Strain Development & Genetic Engineering: Expertise in developing high-performing production strains using both traditional and advanced synthetic biology approaches in diverse hosts.​
Fermentation Process Development & Optimization: In-depth knowledge of fermentation processes across various scales and product types, with a focus on improving efficiency and yield.​
Enzymology & Protein Expression: Strong background in enzyme production, including strain engineering, expression system optimization, and high-throughput screening.​
Data-Driven Experimentation & Analysis: Proficient in leveraging data and implementing systems for informed decision-making in R&D and process development.​​
Scale-Up & Technology Transfer: Proven ability to successfully transfer laboratory processes to industrial production.​​
How I Can Help You:​
Whether you are facing strain development challenges or looking to optimize existing fermentation processes or exploring new product pipelines, I can provide targeted technical expertise to:
​Identify and troubleshoot technical roadblocks hindering your progress in strain engineering, fermentation, or enzyme production. For example, diagnosing low yields, instability issues, or contamination problems.​
Evaluate and recommend optimal microbial hosts and genetic engineering strategies tailored to your specific product goals and resources. This could include advising on platform organism selection, gene editing approaches, or pathway optimization.​​​
Design and optimize fermentation processes to achieve target KPIs for titer, yield, purity, and cost. This includes expertise in media development, process parameter optimization, and bioreactor design considerations across different scales.​​
Assess and implement new technologies and methodologies to enhance your R&D and production capabilities, such as lab automation, high-throughput screening, advanced analytical techniques, and cloud-based data management systems, including recommendations on providers.​​
Develop robust scale-up strategies and provide technical guidance during technology transfer from laboratory to pilot and commercial production, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition.​​Provide technical support and guidance for ongoing fermentation production, helping to troubleshoot operational issues and implement continuous improvement strategies.​​
Provide expert insights and technical due diligence for evaluating potential mergers, acquisitions, or venture investments in the industrial biotechnology space, assessing the technical viability and risks associated with different technologies and companies.​​​​​​​​​​​
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If you're seeking deep technical expertise to solve your challenges in microbial strain development and fermentation, I invite you to contact me to discuss your specific needs. Let's work together to turn your scientific vision into a commercial reality.
Online Training
From managing teams for more than twenty years, I've learned the value of employee training, providing personal growth for individuals and enhancing effectiveness of the team as a whole. The training we offer includes introduction of a new system for the team, for instance the Project Management Concepts and Phase-Gate System package. Other training packages give early or mid-career scientists exposure to business concepts and strategies that will help inform their decisions on technology development projects.
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Our current offerings are:
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Project Management Concepts and Phase-Gate System
The course combines an explanation of standard project management tools and how they can be applied to biotechnology research projects with templates for project management (Project Charter, Risk Register, Work Breakdown Structure plus RASCI Chart, Stakeholder Analysis)
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​In the future we will be adding:
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Critical Thinking and Lean Methodologies for Research
A condensed view of how critical thinking strategies and lessons from lean manufacturing can be applied to make research programs more effective.
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Business Strategy for Scientists
An introduction to business development for scientists, based on essential reading to understand how businesses succeed or fail and how these lessons can be applied to research projects and portfolio management.
Biography
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Dr. Jamie Ryding is a highly experienced leader in industrial biotechnology, specializing in bringing complex biological processes from concept to commercial reality. With a deep technical foundation covering molecular biology, microbial physiology, synthetic biology, enzymology, and fermentation process development, Jamie has a proven track record of building capabilities, leading high-performing teams, and delivering impactful results across both small and large company environments.
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Prior to founding Apex Bio Consulting, Jamie served as the Vice President of Research, Biotechnology at ADM, a global leader in agricultural processing. In this role, he was instrumental in transforming and expanding the biotechnology R&D function, growing the team substantially and building cutting-edge capabilities in synthetic biology and lab automation. He oversaw the development and scale-up of fermentation processes for a diverse portfolio of products including amino acids, organic acids, enzymes, probiotics, hydrocolloids, and polyols, successfully onboarding strains from internal teams and external partners.
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During his tenure at ADM, Jamie championed strategic initiatives in high-throughput synthetic biology, cloud-based data management system (LIMS), and a team effort to integrate a phase-gate project management system for R&D. His team provided production support for fermentation of multiple products across multiple sites, generating multi-million-dollar operational savings. His expertise also extended to providing critical technical input on due diligence for M&A and ventures groups and contributed to strategy for new business initiatives on Precision Fermentation.
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Jamie's extensive experience also includes leadership roles at pioneering biotechnology companies like BP Biofuels and Verenium Corporation (formerly Diversa Corp.). There, he led teams in fungal strain construction and process development for industrial enzyme production, spearheading high-throughput screening for enzyme evolution, and championing key technical strategies for production systems. This comprehensive background, from foundational research to strategic R&D leadership and commercial impact, informs the practical, results-oriented guidance he now provides through Apex Bio Consulting.