The ’Digital Twin’ That Tests Your Drug Before Any Patient Does

Belma Alispahic on SimCell, Digital Twins for Bioprocessing & Why AI Isn't Optional Anymore | Pharma Prescribed

Belma Alispahic — co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Analysismode — joins Adam Walker for a conversation about AI-powered bioprocess development, digital twins and what happens when a curious kid from Bosnia decides she can't be an astronaut.

Belma has a Master's in applied biotechnology from Uppsala University and co-founded Analysismode during COVID. The company's platform, SimCell, uses AI and digital twins to simulate bioprocesses — helping pharma reduce manufacturing costs, shorten time to market and make smarter development decisions without running every experiment in the lab.

She recently spoke at the 9th Bioproduction Congress in France. Her message: AI isn't optional — it's essential.

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📖 WHAT WE COVER
- From curious kid in Bosnia to biotech co-founder in Sweden
- Astronaut, pianist or biologist — the career shortlist
- SimCell: digital twins for bioprocess development
- Why therapies cost too much — and how AI reduces manufacturing cost
- ChatGPT as the inflection point: when AI went from niche to everywhere
- AI won't replace pharma scientists — but it will change how they work
- Paper notebooks, Excel sheets and the data lake problem
- Big pharma hiring AI teams massively — what that means for startups
- Conservative industry vs the speed of AI adoption
- Bioproduction Congress in France: AI isn't optional
- Be honest, be weird — the golden rule

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction & podcast mission
1:00 Meet Belma Alispahic — CSO of Analysismode
2:00 Bosnia, curiosity and the astronaut dream
3:00 Biology as the closest thing to space
4:00 Co-founding Analysismode during COVID
5:00 SimCell: digital twins for bioprocesses
7:00 Why therapies cost too much
9:00 ChatGPT as the inflection point for pharma AI
11:00 Big pharma hiring AI teams massively
13:00 Paper notebooks, Excel and pharma's data problem
15:00 AI augmenting not replacing scientists
18:00 Bioprocessing industry: niche but critical
20:00 Bioproduction Congress in France
22:00 How SimCell works: dashboards not code
25:00 Conservative industry vs AI speed
28:00 Being a startup in a regulated world
30:00 The Balkans, accountability and growing up fast
32:00 Quick-fire: curiosity, integrity, ownership and empathy
34:00 Music, piano and touching grass after remote work
36:00 Golden rule: be honest, be weird — take up space

👤 ABOUT BELMA ALISPAHIC
Co-founder and CSO of Analysismode. Master's in applied biotechnology (Uppsala University). Builder of SimCell. Speaker at the 9th Bioproduction Congress.
🌐 https://www.analysismode.com
💼 Search "Belma Alispahic" on LinkedIn

🎙️ ABOUT PHARMA PRESCRIBED
Long-form conversations with leaders in clinical research, digital health and mental wellbeing, hosted by Adam Walker.
🌐 https://pharmaprescribed.com
💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-walker-2327951/

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