Jack Prior

I work at the interfaces of biologics manufacturing. Between development and manufacturing, data science and manufacturing science. Today that work is mostly about AI. Getting the data ready is the way in, and agentic AI is finally making it real.

Nearly thirty years of biologics CMC work have taught me that manufacturing excellence comes down to how well we monitor, understand, and control process variability. At Sanofi and Genzyme I have led manufacturing science organizations of up to 50 people, responsible for scale-up, technology transfer, continued process verification, cGMP production support, and critical manufacturing investigations. A decade of that was on the front line in a cGMP plant.

I started working with AI on biologics problems at MIT nearly forty years ago. My doctorate used nonlinear data reconciliation for troubleshooting. Since then I have followed these methods, assessed them, and looked for the right place to apply them. For most of that time the data was too thin and the wrangling too onerous. Agentic AI is finally changing both.

My current role is Head of MSAT Process Monitoring and Data Science/AI Strategy at Sanofi, working across a global biologics network. Three Sanofi Global Innovation Awards came along the way. Board service includes the PDA Science Advisory Board, as an AI expert, the MIT Leaders for Global Operations Governing Board, and the organizing committee of AIChE's PD2M conference. My Sc.D. in chemical engineering is from MIT. My B.S. is from the University of Connecticut, where honors included being named Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year and later induction into the Academy of Distinguished Engineers.