Navigating the Combination

Parth Kothari and Jonathan Amaya-Hodges
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Navigating the Combination is the podcast for pharmaceutical and biotech professionals tackling one of the industry's most complex challenges: bringing drug-device combination products to market. Hosted by Parth Kothari and Jonathan Amaya-Hodges of Suttons Creek - the device team for pharma - each episode draws on 650+ combined years of experience and 120+ successful launches to cut through the complexity of combination product development, from device selection and regulatory strategy to OEM alignment, quality systems, and FDA submissions. Whether you're a VP of Regulatory Affairs weighing your submission strategy, a program director managing a complex OEM relationship, or an executive trying to protect a multi-million-dollar drug investment, this podcast gives you the insight, clarity, and confidence to make the right calls - right the first time.

Episodes

  1. 4h ago

    SE01 E02 The Combination Product Blind Spot | Nathan Kast

    In this episode, Parth Kothari and Jonathan Amaya-Hodges sit down with Nathan Kast, a seasoned combination product professional whose career has spanned SHL, Becton Dickinson, and now Stevanato Group. Nathan shares how he stumbled into the drug delivery space entirely by accident, why being a great mentee matters more than finding a great mentor, and what it actually takes to build the kind of supplier-pharma relationships that get therapies to patients faster.The conversation digs into one of the most persistent gaps in the industry: the tendency of smaller and mid-sized pharma companies to treat drug containment and delivery systems as packaging rather than as integrated parts of the development process. Nathan breaks down why that mindset is rational but costly, how pricing pressures and supply chain regionalisation are reshaping device strategy, and why standardisation is rapidly becoming table stakes rather than a differentiator. A candid, experience-driven episode for anyone working at the intersection of device development and pharmaceutical commercialisation.Key takeaways: Being a good mentee — staying humble, open to mistakes, and eager to learn — is what attracts strong mentors, not the other way aroundSmaller pharma companies often treat drug delivery systems as packaging rather than as integrated development components, leading to costly late-stage surprisesFraming decisions around total cost of ownership (TCO) helps pharma partners see the downstream risks of deferring device integration conversationsTrue supplier-pharma partnership means transparent dialogue about constraints on both sides — not just pushing risk downstreamSupply chain regionalisation post-COVID is accelerating, and pharma is now making strategic asset-level decisions about what to near-shore versus centraliseDevice differentiation has largely shifted from a competitive advantage to a reliability and scalability question — it's now table stakes for at-home carePharma companies are splitting into two camps: those adopting standardised platform devices from suppliers, and those building proprietary internal platforms across their whole portfolioUnderstanding why a request is being made — not just what is being asked — leads to better outcomes for everyone in the development chain Connect with Nathan Kast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-kast-4568641b/ I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.– Parth & Jonathan and the Navigating the Combination podcast team Connect with Parth Kothari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parthjkothari/ Connect with Jonathan Amaya-Hodges on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanwhodges/ Visit the Suttons Creek website here: https://suttonscreek.com Listen to Navigating the Combination on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033HRTwEj7aFLx9K8ZEsVGApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/navigating-the-combination/id6786238670Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12169e2d-2323-41db-bdb4-8a8e7841c799 #navigatingthecombination #suttonscreek #combinationproducts #drugdelivery #pharmaconsulting #regulatoryaffairs #medicaldevices #biotech #pharmabiotech #fdaregulation #drugdevicedevelopment #lifesciences #combinationproductdevelopment #pharmapodcast #devicestrategyNavigating the Combination is the podcast for pharmaceutical and biotech professionals tackling one of the industry's most complex challenges: bringing drug-device combination products to market. Hosted by Parth Kothari and Jonathan Amaya-Hodges of Suttons Creek - the device team for pharma - each episode draws on 650+ combined years of experience and 120+ successful launches to cut through the complexity of combination product development, from device selection and regulatory strategy to OEM alignment, quality systems, and FDA submissions.Whether you're a VP of Regulatory Affairs weighing your submission strategy, a program director managing a complex OEM relationship, or an executive trying to protect a multi-million-dollar drug investment, this podcast gives you the insight, clarity, and confidence to make the right calls - right the first time.

  2. Jul 14

    SE01 E01 From Medical Devices to Combination Products: Navigating FDA, Reliability, and Quality Leadership | Jeff Gensler

    Welcome to the first episode of the Navigating the Combination podcast!  When Jeff Gensler walked into Pfizer Meridian on day one, FDA had left the building just a week earlier. What followed — a warning letter response, 15 FDA meetings in four months, a CDRH site audit, and an agency directive to redesign the entire product — was a challenge, but also an opportunity for in-depth examination of the company’s quality systems. In this episode, Jeff joins Parth and Jonathan to unpack those early days, the gaps he found between pharma and device quality thinking, and how that experience shaped his entire approach to process capability, CAPA, and compliance.Jeff breaks down why the transition from attribute to variable data is so much more than a methodology switch — and shares a real example of how catching a single worn mould cavity early saved millions of dollars in scrapped components. He also makes the case for why quality professionals need to stop speaking compliance-only and start building business cases that leadership can actually act on. Now Chief Quality Officer at Exela Pharma Sciences, Jeff reflects on what the shift to the CDMO space looks like, where the industry is heading, and why he believes quality is becoming a competitive advantage rather than a cost center.  Key takeaways:Pharma and device quality systems differ fundamentally in CAPA philosophy - pharma treats CAPA as actions from investigations, while device uses it systemically for trend violations and major issues Switching from attribute to variable data requires process improvement work first — you'll surface capability gaps that were invisible before Variable data allows earlier detection of process drift, as demonstrated by catching a degraded mould cavity before a single out-of-spec part was produced Quality improvements need a business case, not just a compliance argument — linking changes to cost savings significantly increases the chance of leadership buy-in Process validation should go deeper than IQ/OQ/PQ checkboxes — centring processes within OQ limits prevents failures down the line Continuous process monitoring catches variation sources that a three-lot PQ simply cannot represent CDMOs are often out of sight with FDA — building a proactive quality culture internally is both a compliance strategy and a market differentiator Run towards the fires — warning letters, drug shortages, and enforcement actions are where quality professionals learn the most, fastest Connect with Jeff Gensler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-gensler-67a54a1a/.   If this episode gave you something useful, give it a like, share it with someone navigating the combination product space, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.– Parth & Jonathan and the Navigating the Combination podcast team Connect with Parth Kothari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parthjkothari/ Connect with Jonathan Amaya-Hodges on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanwhodges/ Visit the Suttons Creek website here: https://suttonscreek.com Listen to Navigating the Combination on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033HRTwEj7aFLx9K8ZEsVGApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/navigating-the-combination/id6786238670Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/12169e2d-2323-41db-bdb4-8a8e7841c799 #navigatingthecombination #suttonscreek #combinationproducts #drugdelivery #pharmaconsulting #regulatoryaffairs #medicaldevices #biotech #pharmabiotech #fdaregulation #drugdevicedevelopment #lifesciences #combinationproductdevelopment #pharmapodcast #devicestrategyNavigating the Combination is the podcast for pharmaceutical and biotech professionals tackling one of the industry's most complex challenges: bringing drug-device combination products to market. Hosted by Parth Kothari and Jonathan Amaya-Hodges of Suttons Creek - the device team for pharma - each episode draws on 650+ combined years of experience and 120+ successful launches to cut through the complexity of combination product development, from device selection and regulatory strategy to OEM alignment, quality systems, and FDA submissions.Whether you're a VP of Regulatory Affairs weighing your submission strategy, a program director managing a complex OEM relationship, or an executive trying to protect a multi-million-dollar drug investment, this podcast gives you the insight, clarity, and confidence to make the right calls - right the first time.

  • 2 Episodes

About

Navigating the Combination is the podcast for pharmaceutical and biotech professionals tackling one of the industry's most complex challenges: bringing drug-device combination products to market. Hosted by Parth Kothari and Jonathan Amaya-Hodges of Suttons Creek - the device team for pharma - each episode draws on 650+ combined years of experience and 120+ successful launches to cut through the complexity of combination product development, from device selection and regulatory strategy to OEM alignment, quality systems, and FDA submissions. Whether you're a VP of Regulatory Affairs weighing your submission strategy, a program director managing a complex OEM relationship, or an executive trying to protect a multi-million-dollar drug investment, this podcast gives you the insight, clarity, and confidence to make the right calls - right the first time.

Information

  • Creator
    Parth Kothari and Jonathan Amaya-Hodges
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Parth Kothari and Jonathan Amaya-Hodges