Protecting Samples, Driving Innovation: Insights from Ryan Smith, Global Commercial Lead at Astoriom

Ryan Smith, global commercial lead at Astoriom, discusses the evolving landscape of sample management in life sciences, highlighting how global reach, advanced storage solutions, and AI-driven tools are supporting contract manufacturing, outsourced research, and sustainability. In a Q&A, he shares insights from this year’s CPhI event, addressing trends in supply chain resilience, operational innovation, and the critical role of reliable sample handling for biotechnology and pharmaceutical organisations.

Can you introduce yourself and Astoriom?
“Sure, I lead the global commercial team at Astoriom,” he explains. “We’re a global leader in sample management across all temperatures, from liquid nitrogen at minus 196°C through to plus 60°C for stability studies. With sites in the US, UK, and Ireland, we partner with clients ranging from academia, biotechnology to pharma to manage samples across their entire lifecycle.”

What are you seeing at this year’s CPhI event?
“We don’t have a stand ourselves, but the event is heavily focused on contract manufacturing and outsourced research. Many of the organizations here are our clients, whose core expertise is in custom manufacturing. They come to us for medium- to long-term storage and stability studies — essentially, we supplement their services to provide a reliable sample management partner.”

What are your key takeaways from CPhI this year?
“Several major themes stood out: advancing human health, supply chain resilience, and sustainability,” says Ryan. “Protecting samples and ensuring consistent quality is a critical challenge. Our goal is to take that worry off our clients’ plates, so their samples arrive exactly as they were sent — upstream, downstream, or back to them. With major facilities across regions, we can consistently support clients globally, while maintaining sustainable operations and environmental responsibility.”

Have any innovations inspired you at the event?
“The sheer scale of this event is remarkable,” Ryan says. “It highlights the growing demand for outsourcing and contract services. Being able to scale on-demand in the right region is more important than ever. The investment organizations are making in this event shows it’s the perfect venue to plan partnerships and strategies for the next five years of development.”

What role do you see AI playing in your business?
“We need to embrace AI,” he says. “It can help us manage samples more efficiently, predict client behaviors from historical trends, and decide which facilities to scale or where to expand next. AI tools allow us to analyze emerging market demands and make data-driven decisions. If leveraged correctly, AI represents a very positive opportunity for organizations like ours.”

Conclusion
Ryan Smith’s insights underline the growing complexity and importance of sample management in the life sciences industry. By combining global reach, robust partnerships, and innovative AI tools, Astoriom ensures samples are managed safely, efficiently, and sustainably, supporting clients in advancing human health worldwide.