The role of a field application specialist is hard to describe. They are a traveling band of scientists armed with knowledge who are ready to address client needs.
If you ask four field application specialists (FASs) what they do, you’ll get four different answers. We know this because that’s exactly what happened when we talked to Cytiva genomic medicine (Gen Med) FASs from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East, and North America. Though each of them described their work differently, all their descriptions had two things in common. They are problem solvers, and they are dedicated to helping their clients achieve their goals.
Field application specialists in the field
At Cytiva, the role of a field application specialist is to be the first line of scientific and technical support for our client (Fig 1). And this support is personalized to you and meets you where you are—literally. Our specialists will come to your location to give you hands-on training and assistance. “The trainings I give are in person. I sometimes use [a remote meeting platform], but they aren’t the virtual reality trainings,” said Stijn De Backer, a FAS based out of Belgium. He emphasized that even a remote meeting provides customized support.
Fig 1. Some of the various ways an FAS can support you.
The four Gen Med FASs that we spoke to work on various aspects of gene therapy workflows, but Cytiva has specialists with expertise in all biopharma fields that we support. Whether your developing viral vectors, mRNA vaccines, oligo therapeutics, lateral-flow tests, or any other therapy or diagnostic, there’s an FAS who can support you. All Cytiva FASs are scientists with master’s degrees or PhDs in various life sciences. They have broad knowledge of our portfolio and are ready to talk about many solutions, not just the one that they were brought in for.
A former downstream FAS based out of the United States described a time when his scope of work unexpectedly changed during a client visit. The client was unhappy because a step in their purification process was not working as planned. The FAS talked at length with the scientists, and as he learned more about their purification process, he discovered that they were asking about just one step that was part of a 13- or 14-step process! The FAS pivoted and began to work with the client on an overall process improvement. He reduced the number of steps in the process so that there were fewer steps that could affect the client’s yield.
Scientific support for all
When the former FAS was asked to describe the clients he works with, he said “It's sort of everything. Especially if we just look at Gen Med, it seems like everybody's playing in everything. But historically, I think most of this stuff has been CDMOs, some university labs that are expanding, and then certainly the biopharmas are getting into more Gen Med stuff.” The FASs bring the same dedication and hard work to all their clients no matter the size of the organization.
All the specialists we spoke to emphasized their desire to have their clients achieve the best results possible. “We are a consultant for the client. Helping them to be successful with their specific process as fast as possible,” said Marie-Laure Collignon, formerly an FAS based in Belgium, now product manager with Cytiva Fast Trak™ services.
Marie-Laure described how she collaborates closely with potential customers to help them decide if a piece of Cytiva equipment is right for them (Fig 2). To begin, Cytiva signs a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) so the client feels comfortable sharing their data and processes. Through two or three virtual meetings, Marie-Laure and her team learns about the client’s project and their key parameters for success. Then the team travels to the client’s laboratory with the equipment to be tested. (For Marie-Laure, that equipment was usually bioreactors.) The team then trains the client and helps them through their first cell culture run. They stay a few days to make sure the client has seen all the important steps. After the team leaves, they are still available remotely for the client to continue receiving support.
Fig 2. The general FAS workflow for potential and new clients.
“Then we schedule another meeting after they finish their work. And during that meeting, what we do is we review the results with them. And we see ‘Okay, this was good. This was what we expected to see.’ Or ‘Now is this strange! What's happened?’ We tell them how to modify the process and give clear recommendations if they want to do a second run or third run. So, they get [to try] the equipment for two or three months. They have the opportunity to do additional work with the equipment.” Marie-Laure says.
Field application specialists work similarly with clients who have already purchased Cytiva equipment. They have pre-visit meetings, on-site training, and then continuing support with troubleshooting and optimization.
“We’re not car salesmen. We’re not real estate agents. We sell science and solutions to our clients. And the best part is that we don’t run away after we sell. We work with them in a journey to develop human therapeutics. We provide them not just the solution; we provide them with our service so that they know that we’re always with them,” explains Andrew Low, an FAS based in Singapore.
Developing close relationships
An important part of an FAS’s job is to develop trusting relationships with their clients. They accomplish this by displaying their expertise through actions and not words. “For some clients, [we] actually hold their hands and walk with them on the journey,” Andrew says.
Andrew told a story about working with a particular client. The first time he visited, the client was very hostile. They owned Cytiva equipment but weren’t getting good recovery results. So, Andrew reviewed their data and gave them suggestions on how to optimize both their upstream and downstream processes. His suggestions obviously worked, because when he visited again six months later, they were much more friendly and ready to listen to his suggestions. The third time he visited, they asked him to give a presentation at a conference they organized. And now Andrew is now working on writing an application note with them.
“You don’t just do your thing: come in and do your test or give a training. You actually talk. And the interaction with the client; that is something I like,” Stijn said. He spends many hours in labs with clients. During those hours, Stijn chats with them and gets to know them discussing science and whatever else may come up. Good communication skills are another trait shared by our FASs.
When more help is needed
The FAS team is just one of the services available from Cytiva. An FAS can help with process optimization and troubleshooting, but if they see that a client needs help developing a workflow, they will refer the client to the Fast Trak™ services team.
Like the FAS team, the Fast Trak™ team is made up of skilled scientists with extensive knowledge of Cytiva products. They can help with any part of your process development: upstream, downstream, tech transfer, and biomanufacturing. They will even help design and optimize an end-to-end process if that’s what you need. After you work with the Fast Trak™ team, a FAS will collaborate with you and them to the transfer of the process back to your site. The FAS will then do any onsite training needed.
Furthermore, Fast Trak™ services offer general training and education courses. You can choose from in-person classes, instructor-led virtual classes, or on-demand virtual courses. And if there’s something specific you want to learn, you can have a course customized to your needs.
Depend on us
Whether you’re just checking us out, are new to the Cytiva family, or are a long-time user, our field application specialists are ready to hit the road to help you out. They have the background, experience, and knowledge to provide the support you need to bring your therapeutic to market.
As we wrapped out our conversation, Marie-Laure had one final thought. “My advice would be to find a good collaborator. A bioreactor is a bioreactor, but what can make a difference is a team who helps you to review your data and help you to reach the optimal condition. Finding the right collaborator is very important.”
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