Molecular Moments Episode 2: Dr. Marianne Fjording talks biomarkers, CROs, and tomatoes! was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the latest audio-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors. Sonix is the best audio automated transcription service in 2020. Our automated transcription algorithms works with many of the popular audio file formats.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Hi, I'm Dr. Chad Briscoe, and this is the Molecular Moments podcast, an ongoing conversation with industry leaders about the various nuances of drug development and bio analysis. We're going to be talking about science the way that scientists do. And in each episode, we'll explore the relationships that help us become the scientists we are today. In today's episode, we sat down with guest scientist Dr. Marianne Furedi, scientific officer biogenetics, who joined us all the way from Copenhagen, Denmark. Marianne has more than twenty five years of experience within the industry, and before joining the biogenetics team, she spent almost 15 years at the pharma giant Novo Nordisk. She's also super involved in the industry. She and I had a great discussion about her expertise in biomarkers making the jump from pharma to S.R.O. and the hobbies that she has used to help fill the time during quarantine. So without further ado, here is the second episode of Molecular Moments.
Announcer:
Welcome to the Molecular Moments podcast.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Marianne, would just like to ask you a little bit about about your background. How did you land in the pharmaceutical industry become a scientist? Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So I'm located in Denmark, in Copenhagen, and I started at the University of Copenhagen studying biochemistry. I think that was a very interesting part. And I found out very early in the study that I actually want to go into pharma. So after three years, you normally do your master's thesis in Denmark. So I started my master's thesis at a small biotech company called Noisettes. It was very small at that time and I made a similar kind of SSL and it was related to neurological diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and so on. So I actually found out very early that I wanted to work into pharma so early on the assets.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
I mean, I guess you're 20 so years. I don't want to I don't mean to date you add it all here, but what were the assay formats when you first started out in this field?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
It was a biotech company related to small molecules and it was in the research area. So my thesis was about to find a new small drug compound that could increase the new right outgrowth of the cells. So I was working with both the cell line and did a lot of cell based assays. And then I was also working with primary cells, taking them out from the mice and then grow them as well, and then tested this drug when they were added to the cell culture could increase or sustain the new right outgrowth of these cells. It was super interesting at that point.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Yeah, that is awesome. Yeah. So one of the things, again, still kind of focusing on your early part of your career that I find talking to scientists is that there's often a personal connection, something that is drawing them into the pharmaceutical industry. Was there any moment like that for you and your career?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Yeah. So actually my father, who's also a biochemistry and he was also working with the new science. So that was, of course, a path for me as well on this regard. And actually, I was also then later on involving in lot of screening of like high throughput screening of small compounds and different kind of s.a. And that lead me down to signal transduction. So I was working at least 10 or 15 years with the signaling transduction with my Kinesis and Eric Phosphorylation and Jex instead postulations. Well
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
I know that myself, as well as many people in the bio analytical industry would view you as an expert in the analysis of biomarkers.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Is that where you see your expertise as well? What do you really see that you do that you bring to the pharmaceutical industry?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Based on and also what I learned in the early days on very research part, I was actually after my master's thesis. I did a Ph.D also at the hospital in Denmark as well. And then I was working more with the signals reduction and I was also working with the professor Kerstin Gameloft. I learned a lot from him as well on what kind of how to proceed in tyrosine kinase signalling. And and that led me then into insulin signalling and IGF one signalling. And then I moved into a job at Novo Nordisk as well.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Yeah. So that's interesting because that area of Denmark, Copenhagen, obviously the most populated area of Denmark, there's a lot of pharmaceutical industry and biotech research in that area. I personally sort of have a fascination as a chemist who is interested in a lot of physics with the history of nuclear bombs and things like that. So I think of Niels Bohr, I going back to one of the greatest Danish scientists. What do you think it is about that area of Denmark or Denmark in general that has made it such an incredible scientific hotbed for pharmaceutical?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Yeah, that's a good question, actually, I don't know. I think maybe we are very curious by nature then, Mark. I mean, we we like to explore stuff and find out if this new way of doing things. So and then that has also maybe been some coincidence.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
And that time when it all started out, I mean, I was also working at Little Pharma. They was also founded by Alex Cole, who was also part of the one what is finding insulin's? I mean, maybe these guys, they also knew each other. And then the main part of all these kind of things, eventually you will have a small hub coming up with small biotech. And yeah, people are curious by nature, I think was no Vidaurre.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
I guess I have to think of Novo Nordisk as being a diabetes company. And first, they do a lot of other things now. And, you know, early insulin at Eli Lilly, I guess I never really knew which one was first. Were they around the same time? I really have no idea.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
That's a good question. I think is also, I don't know, maybe a little political, I think. And then then also on the part on the on the different time period as well. I mean, I, of course, think that it was maybe I was cool.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
And the one is that was first at least I wanted to make a recombinant as well. I mean, maybe they also at that time also had a lot of interaction going to meetings like we are doing now and getting inspired by other. Right.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Yeah, well, as I think many people do have a lot of friends that are will type one, type two diabetics. And so it's wonderful for everyone. And I think insulin is an early, huge success in the pharmaceutical industry. But I think everyone wins and I think we see that collaboration across the industry now anyways. So I wanted to talk to you get a little bit deeper specifically in that biomarker space. You know, we were really excited when you joined biotech Julita to bring the expertise to the whole, you know, taking us to a whole nother level with biomarker expertise. But first, what sort of motivated you to jump from a career in a pharmaceutical company over to the service industry of a contract research organization?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Yeah, thank you. That's also a very good question. So, I mean, I have been working at least more than 20, close to 25 years in biotech and pharma from as I said when I started out, my mother and I've been working with assay development and validation in both the research and in the non-clinical space. And then, of course, in the clinical trials where I was supporting a lot of my colleagues with different kinds of things related to essays. And I really like to have that interaction with a lot of different people and helping them with these kind of troubleshooting and boesen as a development, but also for what they need is I mean, they sometimes say at least some of my former colleagues also had known what is going on. I don't want to put them on top here, but I think that many of them were kind of having difficulties in navigating in the space. What should we measure? I mean, should we measure all these?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
And then sometimes I mean, when you are a researcher, you get so excited, you want to measure like 30 or 50 different kind of biome in that trial. And I think it is rewarding to guide them and help them on what to choose and what to go on. And then for my move to go into a zero, I think that I just wanted to broaden my horizons a little more to find out if there was more people I could help with this kind of jobs and so on. So it's not so much about this whole things with the sample analysis. It's more in the process of getting people started on going on the right track for this one. So I think on a crow, you get the chance to talk to a lot of different kind of client and getting to know a lot of different kind of drug modalities, disease indications. So it would not just be one disease indication and maybe just more or less the same drug modalities in different varieties. So I think that could also be I mean, for me, I think that could also be rewarding for me on that part.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
While there was a lot to unpack in that answer, that's pretty cool.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
And for me is a career S.R.O. person. I've been almost twenty five years only working for a couple of different CROs.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
I've always had that interest to kind of see into the other side. But I really enjoy, as you mentioned, working with many different companies, with many different disease states. Sometimes it really challenges you because you go into a call and you know you have an hour or two to read up on this new disease that you don't know anything about. And you want to try to be as much of an expert as you can. But, you know, three hours later, you're maybe talking about a completely different disease. It might be one kind of oncology in the morning and it might be diabetes or lupus in the afternoon. So it's certainly fascinating in that way, isn't it?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
It is fascinating, but I actually think that also many diseases are somehow also related to some kind of immunology. I mean, you have maybe inflammation or you have some kind of signalling.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Swayze and many of these can also be very much related, so you're not just starting from totally from scratch and I think from my background, both working in neurological diseases and also in the inflammation diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and skin diseases, and also diabetes and liver diseases and cardiovascular. I mean, you get a very broad knowledge of all of these diseases. And anyway, these are also maybe some of our clients that so and so that's our priorities, right?
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Yeah, I feel like that's one thing I've learned a lot as I've gained more and more expertise in the biomarker space over the last eight or 10 years is the connection between different diseases. You know, when we when we looked back 20 years and most things were small molecule treatments and we were measuring piqué and they were really didn't have the same focus. Right. And now now I see across, like you said, across arthritis and cardiac disease and oncology. Right. There's the information that you mentioned. There's markers of different types of stress response in the body. And that really does tie the diseases together and helps to understand the complexity of the human systems as well as. Yeah, how how there's so much interplay and I've learned a lot from you in the short time that we've been colleagues. I really appreciate that. Another area that I found fascinating that you've talked to me a lot in our normal work is tell you about the different levels of sophistication of different biomarkers. And sometimes we talk about, OK, there's that sort of simple soluble biomarkers, the cytokines and the other circulating biomarkers. And then and then more and more target engagement biomarkers have become a very interesting topic to explore. And I'd love you to dive into that and talk a little bit about why that space is so important and what's interesting about it, where it's going.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Yes, because, I mean, a biomarker is not just the word biomarker. I mean, you will have the one that you also know when you go to your doctor. And if you're seeing that you have fever and you want to make sure that you maybe want antibiotic, then you get to measure the CFP and then the doctor hopefully say that now you can get antibiotics. So that would be a fireman. So that's the most diagnostic one. But I mean, there's also only one way we're going more into the drug related one where you want to make sure that the drug actually that mechanism of action for that drug, how is it actually that the drug is working maybe in your animal model and later on also in human? And for that, you would also need biomarker. And it's basically also the targeting goetzman biomarker if the drug actually hits its target. So sometimes, I mean, we have several kind of drug also on the market where we know, yes, they have a good effect, but also maybe only for some persons and maybe not for everybody. And that could also be related to how they are hitting the target. I mean, so that could be good for people to have more targeted encasement biomarker to make sure that your drug is on the right path and you can go faster to the market as well.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
When you talk to customers about biomarkers, you know, it's not uncommon in the conversations, as you said, to maybe want 20 or 30 biomarkers, maybe you need a biomarker. And of course, these things are also expensive. They take time.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Tell me about how that conversation might go when someone comes to you or they say, hey, we want to do these 20 biomarkers, do you say, sure, yeah. We'll give you a quote, we'll run a ball. Or how do you go about advising in that way?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
I think for the most part, I mean, you, again, have to ask, what is that exactly what kind of answers are they looking for? So, again, if they are having a new drug that they just simply can see that it is working now here in the animal models, it work in some disease model. And also now they move into animals in talks and also in human and want to explore more. Then it is good to have some kind of more on a lot of multiplexing and proteomics to check how is it with your biomarker program here so you can also call it a fishing expedition.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
They want to explore which one is actually biomarkers going up and down related to that disease for these? Again, I also kind of advice them to narrow these panels down into a few. Again, I mean, maybe not so, but at least maybe 10 or something, because it's also super difficult to look on these data afterwards. I mean, you have to have a lot of bioinformatics to look into if this is actually making sense in the whole proteomics space. And then I'm also asking again on again, related to the talking encasement, I say if they have, for instance, the monoclonal against a cytokine or something, if. They also want to have some more deep dive into that essay for for instance, for that cytokine or protein, one of the other challenges with those is the stage related validations of biomarkers and qualification in those terms.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
So how do you sort of guide or could you generally kind of summarize as you move through the development process how that changes?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
And for that one, I would also use my experience together with the regulators, I mean, from when I have interaction with the sciences as well. So that would also be I mean, for many, the first human dose is an exploratory trial.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So, I mean, you can test more or less all you want and explore from that one. And then you're going into more on a face to think that you should definitely narrow it down and making sure that you have some more specific biomarker that you want to measure also, because sometimes when you are going to have a big panel multiplex, it's not always you can relate on the exact numbers, on the concentration. Of course, you would get a concentration level, but you can maybe not get that confirmed in a single place later on. So you should also look more on Peasants' if it's going up and down and always compared to baseline or placebo and so on. So it's always a relative quantity to on these essays as well. And on the state's rate, I would say when you're moving into a phase two, you should be more specific on what you're going into. To be honest, I think that it should start much earlier all the way to when you are actually going to find your lead candidate of your drug. I mean, if at that time you also need to have a process for which biomarker you want to measure in the clinic. So a biomarker plan should also be in place very early in research and should be in place when you are going to find your lead candidate. But of course, I acknowledge that it can be difficult for small companies to do that as well, right?
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Yeah, I guess that's part of where your role can come in now. Right. As a service provider is to help a biomarker plan, right?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Exactly. And then also to be specific, what should it contain so that contain that you are also looking into immunohistochemistry to see if your target is expressed, for instance, in the liver or in the blood? Yeah, I mean, in that the tissues that you are going to target. And then also if you should look into some genomic plan as well, is it something where you only can measure the messenger not on a but never find the proteins and then also figure out is that then relevant for moving forward as well? So there should be several part of this one that you need to look into.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
So, yeah, so there's a lot of different aspects of what to look and do with biomarkers, as I think everyone expected. So it may be advice from your experience as a client at Novo Nordisk in the past of different Ciro's or an innovator, a company that needs partners, but now also coming a little bit from your role in a service provider to zero, what should the partners look for when they're or the sponsor the project sponsors look for when they're looking for a good S.R.O. partner?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
I mean, that you're not just taking on the head saying, yes, I can do this essay. And then I set up and validate everything just as if it was a PSA. You should also look into if what is the biology behind? I mean, should you look into if it should be in serum on plasma, should it be? And what kind of plasma should it be? Should it be heparin or you should see a side trip because sometimes these Bamanga are only stable in certain matrix. I still remember when I started at Novo Nordisk, I had a colleague who was going crazy because all the sambas was about taking in the you did say plasma and that was for him Ophelia Project. And she said, but everybody should know, of course, that these population factors, they're not stable. And he did say they are only stable inside three plasma. And then I saying, OK, that's definitely a learning for someone in the place.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So, I mean, you also need to look into what kind of made so he actually knows the biology. So when you asking for service providers, should you actually process it should also be somebody who has they actually have some biology experience that they actually also know what your needs are for that. Or these can help you guide on these questions for setting up up the essay, because it's not just to set up an Iliza or something or another kind of essay platform you need to have asking this question. What what is the biology behind that asking?
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
So I'm impressed. We've spoken about 15 minutes or so on biomarkers and you have not yet used the terms fit for purpose or context of use, which is pretty amazing.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
But I would like you to unpack those terms for me a little bit. Just. It doesn't seem like a complete discussion about biomarkers without without using those two terms, so maybe you can just unpack those for me a little bit in the context of everything else.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Yeah, exactly. So when I started doing more regulated bioanalysis, as I said, I did more or less 10, 15 years of my career in research part, we never talk about fit for purpose or anything like that or what the biomarkers fall were.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
You just continue on doing your research and getting so excited that you could measure at least something in that one. So I attended one of these apes meeting and when I started doing all this and then I heard this fit for purpose and I say, OK, that's a cool name. And actually, the more you are actually thinking about that word, fit for purpose is what you need for your essay. It has actually been the essay has a purpose if you want to measure that biomarker and then you want to make sure that the essay validation actually is fitting into that. And that relates also to the stages. And then, I mean, if it is in a talk study, you might only need a few parameters to test. And in the first human dose, you might not even have all the related the samples to do pre study on doing your essay validation. But you make it as best as you can for your fit, for purpose on that. So I think using these words is actually a very fit for biomarkers because it's a good wording on the context of use is also a good wording, is a similar one, because it's also on you again, have to ask, what is the context of use? It's a little more difficult to figure out for people because then they have to relate.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So if it is a predictive biomarker or prognostic, or sometimes when people can mix up some of the wording on the context of use, but in essence they are very much related to one fit for purpose and context of use.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
You mentioned something that made me think about the past right in my past, in your past and so many international meetings. I would see you all over the world and we always knew you'd be there. And I'm curious, not from a business side, but I wanted to talk personally a little bit.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
You have a love for travel, I think not just business travel. Right. So maybe we could switch gears for a little bit and we'll come back to the pharmaceutical industry and experience. Tell me about your travel experience. Maybe there's one amazing trip or tell me a trip that you want to do after you can travel postcoital travel something.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Oh, yeah. That would also be around the world, I guess. And though I think I mean, travel is also being to be curious, you can always find a place around in the world where there's new interesting people.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
You can learn more about this culture that are there. I have been around many places.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
At one point we took six months off my family and I and we travel around the world. At that time, my boys, they were only six and eight years old. We started out in Nicaragua and it was only five days in that travel. And my youngest son, he broke his arm. And then you are sitting there and we were on the absolute most remote place in the whole world on a small island called Little Cone Island. So there's a big cone island. And then there's one called Little Cone Island on the Nicaragua coast. And you're just sitting there with a six year old who has broke his arm and then like, OK, what now? And I mean, should we go all the way back to Denmark? Should we find out how can it be repaired here in Nicaragua? And I mean, I grew up and I still remember in the nineties when you had all these kind of a civil war there. So, I mean, you were still like, can they only do about the country and so on. But actually, it was so fascinating. So on this very lonely beach, there was one other couple. It was American couple. They were doctors. And they said to us, don't worry, a six year old, it can always be fixed. I mean, you can go all the way back to Denmark or you can have it fixed. And then we looked up and then found out that there was a super nice hospital in Managua.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So we took the rest of the day pack all our stuff, took first a small boat to Coney Island and then a flight from Big Coney Island to monocular and then a taxi to the hospital.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So all that was also arranged by our very small hotel when I was only I think that was only five hots on this hotel. It was on the beach and they'll help us with everything. So it was a touching story. And my son got a super cool in vitro x ray set up on his arm. So it was never over by that. It was just kind of. It was a super cool, super modern hospital and yeah, you can just don't get surprises and we could have never got the same kind of things done in Denmark. So I think from that and then we continue the whole Svevo going to Australia. He got his he could finally stretches out. It was a funny story. But I mean, you learn so much on travel and especially on people and giving surprises and. Yeah, see things I do never thought you would experience to see a little corner.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
And I can appreciate that. Gorog, one of my personal passions or one of the things I'm involved in is some of the Honduran missions that I was in Honduras a couple of years ago. And so I can really appreciate what you know, what you're saying with with Nicaragua. I think it's not too much different. And then you went on to Australia. I love that's not where you're back at.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
It's no way around Australia. And he started to feel better. Well, he's probably a tough kid from it.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
And we ended up in Hong Kong. And that's a funny thing, because at that time we just came to our hotel and we went around in Hong Kong. And then we saw in the news that a hotel in Hong Kong was now totally closed down due to SARS. So that was when we had the bird flu at that time. And then we were just like, oh, my God, what if it was our hotel?
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Because at that time we just simply wanted to go home a little more and have and the kids wanted to be back to the. But I think the whole hotel was closed down due to a tourist coming from Mexico. And he went into that hotel and then apparently he had the bird flu.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
So one of the things I wanted to ask you about is you're also very involved, you know, coming back to the pharmaceutical industry and you're very involved in the regulatory side and different societies. I think I am 10. That term maybe doesn't mean a lot to everyone. But if you could explain that what that is and you know why you're involved, how you're involved and where that documents had, I'd love to get an update on that from you.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So the intent is on PK drug essays and it's a matter of validation that is being covered. So it's on harmonization of the current one. We have several guidelines at the moment from FDA erm in Japan and we also have in Canada and we have in China as well. And so it's a harmonization of all these, that document that we want to have as one document going forward and to make sure that when we are submitting a drug program that it is aligned with all agencies on these process for doing an essay validation. And it has been so rewarding. It's a super cool group that I'm involved with, if you can say that is a group of more than thirty five regulators and then the US from the industry as well. So I'm now the topically from Pharma and the American Association on Pharmaceuticals, and we are having some really good discussions and also where we disagree of course on different kind of topics. So on what we should approach and how to approach this. But you actually learn also a lot from the regulators when you hear what they're saying, that they see these kind of issues in different topics.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
And then, of course, you have to also learn where they are coming from. And also they also have to accept where we are coming from. And we all have the same purpose. We want to have safe drugs on the market for all individuals. It's a super rewarding process to be involved. And where we are at the moment, it was in the public consultation last year and we received a lot of comments, actually over 2000 comments. And we are now going through all of these comments, addressing them and seeing how can we make the guidelines a little more clear in the wording and also on that. And we should also acknowledge that we will make a training material for this one so the document will not be alone. So there will be an Q and A section and there will also be training material which will kind of explain on what to do. How should you prepare, calibrate this and QC see that are of two different stock solution and all these kind of things. So that will be explained also in these training material.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
So if somebody wanted to get involved at this point, is it more of a whole lot and wait, things are coming or is there a way somebody could help with the training material? That sounds like a huge job. Even with thirty five people. It sounds like a huge job.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
It is a huge job, I think. But we will also get help from the ICH organisation on that as well for that. But I think it would also be us as a group making the material. But of course I want to reach out to all my friends around here and pharma and say having them involved, that's well, right.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Yeah, that's fantastic to talking about working with your friends. One of the other top. I really like to explore with my guesses about mentorship and what of my industry mentors was I call her the mother of fit for purpose was Jean Lee, who I worked for for a while in my first role in. And I was very fortunate to work with Jean. And you can imagine the questions that she would throw at you and really make you think deeper. So are there any mentors that you can think of now that you're a little bit further in your career? Maybe you're playing a role as a mentor. I'd like to hear about that a little bit.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
I don't think I would call out specific names on that, but I'm definitely on the mental part.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
I think that there has been many good meetings where people have been a good inspiration among apes, but also from EBF as well, which I have been part of as well.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
And I mean, many of these people are all kind of super good into people that can give a lot to the audience when they are doing talks on that.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
And for myself, I always want to find my mentor role as my door is always open.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
I feel like this is the most important part for being a role model or mentor for four people, that they can always ask questions like there's no such thing as a stupid question. So and they can always come and reach out to me and I will help them and whatever it is. And at the moment, also to stand behind the scientist and the project managers now here at biogenetics that I'm here for them, kind of just behind them, pushing them a little further so that they know exactly on on the next step and making sure that they are confident in what they're doing. So for me, that's that's a good mentor on that part.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
That's fantastic. Because certainly I love that you said that about your door being open.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
And I think, you know, you're somebody I reach out to with questions.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Certainly it's a nice group with with yourself and Jim McNally, my partners, in this very similar role that we play within the organization. So that's exciting. So I want to close with asking you about something that you sent me a while ago that I just went, wow, what I asked you for a picture was August or something like that.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
And you sent me this picture with the most amazing tomatoes I've ever seen in my life. I've never seen so many kinds of tomatoes. I have never seen such delicious.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
I have to come visit next next next August. Tell me about the tomatoes, though.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
It started out very small. I only had like two different kind of tomatoes and I had a greenhouse, what was it, five years ago? And then I find out, oh, this is interesting. And then I joined the group actually, of all places on Facebook for tomatoes enthusiasm. I learned so much more.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So, I mean, it's not just red and round. It can also be oval and green and it can have stripes on. It can be black, it can be yellow with black top. And I mean, it can have wrinkles and can be all kind of thing. And then the taste is also very different.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
So this year I ended up maybe do to COVID. I don't know what happened here, but I had a hundred different species of tomatoes in my garden and my husband, he had to build an extra field for me so that we also could have tomatoes outside of the green house, which of course is a super challenging thing. And then with the wind and rain and snow, so on and so on. But it actually turned out super cool. And I think it's funny. I mean, this small little seed can grow into delivering so much joy. And my whole family is also now having tomatoes all over to see them grow and to see the different shapes and the colors and so on and also taste.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
I mean, some of them, they can taste like an orange or a plum or the kind of a non sweet sour part as well. So that's that's very good.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
I love tomatoes. I really do. Imagine sour. Did you have you ever had fried green tomatoes for like that's a Southern American typical Southern American dish I'd love.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And the other day I, I actually harvested the last one here, in November. Isn't that amazing.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
Some of them were also small and green and I have to make them a release or something like that then that was also very good as well.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
It's fantastic. Marianne, we've talked about a lot today and I appreciate it so much. I think your insights are valuable for me, for the pharmaceutical industry. And just very interesting in general. Is there anything else that you might want to just add, like with Chedid? Ask me about that or any closing comments from you or.
Dr.Marianne Fjording:
No, I think it has been a very pleasant conversation that we had here today. And we can have more on the session. No. So maybe something and then I think it has been very good and wonderful.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Well, we will do it again. That's all for Episode two.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
If you enjoyed today's episode, please be sure to subscribe and Apple podcast Spotify or your favorite podcast app. So you never miss a conversation. If you'd like to hang out with us outside of the podcast, we have a lot of webinars and other presentations, not just for Marianne and myself, but from others at biogenetics. If you want to visit biogenetics dot com to see what's coming up and how you can stay in touch. We're always here, so thanks again.
Dr.Chad Briscoe:
Molecular moments would not be possible without the support of our sponsor. BioAgilytix Labs. BioAgilytix is a global contract research organization specializing in large molecule bio analysis based in Durham, North Carolina, with labs in Hamburg, Germany and Boston, Massachusetts. BioAgilytix provides high quality bio analytical services to leading pharma and biotech companies around the world. They offer assay development, validation and sample analysis under Nanji LP, JLP and GCP, as well as GMP Quality Control Testing. If you are looking to work with a team of highly experienced scientific and QA professionals through all phases of clinical development, look no further than BioAgilytix. For more information or to speak with their scientists today, visit their website at BioAgilytix.com.
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