NIIMBL Announces $10M for 8 New Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Projects

NEWARK, Del., April 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) is pleased to announce approximately $10M in planned project activities through the Institute’s Project Call 7.1 for eight new technology and workforce development projects that will help address key opportunities for innovation in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

The projects align with areas of need identified by NIIMBL and industry stakeholders.

“We are excited to expand our diverse project portfolio with these innovative new projects,” said Chris Roberts, Associate Institute Director. “These collaborative projects will bring significant value to the biopharmaceutical industry in the key areas of intensified processing for monoclonal antibodies, viral vectors, and cell therapy, along with measurements of critical quality attributes.”

Among the eight projects are two workforce development projects focused on data analytics training and strengthening the pipeline of neurodiverse talent.

“To help the biopharmaceutical industry meet its workforce needs, we must develop new training mechanisms and reach diverse populations. These two new additions to our workforce portfolio help us accomplish that goal,” said John Balchunas, NIIMBL Workforce Director.

Since the Institute’s launch in 2017, NIIMBL has awarded 123 member-led technical, workforce development, and Global Health Fund projects with an approximate value of $111M. NIIMBL is composed of nearly 200 member organizations from academia, industry, government, and non-profit organization with a common goal to advance biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

For a description of each project and to learn more about NIIMBL, please visit the Project Call 7.1 website.

7.1 Project List*

Project: Process Intensification for rAAV Manufacturing Using HIP-Vax® and Continuous Countercurrent Tangential Chromatography Technology
Lead: Batavia Biosciences Inc.
Participant(s): ChromaTan Corporation

Project: Antibody Mix-and-Read Assays Based on Fluorescence Intensity Probes
Lead: University of Houston
Participant(s): Agilent, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech

Project: Development of Small Molecule Formulations for Enhanced Production of CAR-T Cell Therapies
Lead: Virica Biotech Inc.
Participant(s): AstraZeneca, Sartorius Stedim

Project: Commercial Deployment of Integrated PAT Technologies to Enable Continuous Upstream Production of Glycosylated Monoclonal Antibodies
Lead: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Participant(s): Agilent, Endress + Hauser Optical Analysis, EnZene Biosciences Ltd, MilliporeSigma/EMD Serono, Pfizer, Inc.

Project: Surrogate ADCs for Process Development and Quality Assessment
Lead: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Participant(s): Carnegie Mellon University, Pfizer, Inc.

Project: Isoelectric Point Purification (IPP) Technology Enables Truly Continuous, End-to-End Chromatography-free Manufacturing to Yield Ultra-high Purity mAbs
Lead: Enquyst Technologies Inc.
Participant(s): Lonza Biologics, Inc., MilliporeSigma/EMD Serono, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Project: Creating a Neurodiverse Talent Pipeline for the Biomanufacturing Industry
Lead: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
Participant(s): Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Pfizer, Inc., University of California, Los Angeles

Project: BioCAD Data Programming for Biomanufacturing Scale-Up
Lead: Santa Clara University
Participant(s): Biocom California, Genentech, Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

*All funding is subject to project agreement negotiations.

About NIIMBL

The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) is a public-private partnership whose mission is to accelerate biopharmaceutical innovation, support the development of standards that enable more efficient and rapid manufacturing capabilities, and educate and train a world-leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce, fundamentally advancing U.S. competitiveness in this industry. NIIMBL is part of Manufacturing USA®, a diverse network of federally-sponsored manufacturing innovation institutes, and is funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the U.S. Department of Commerce with significant additional support from its members. 

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SOURCE National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL)