Manchester Metropolitan University and IBIC's - Medicinal and Clinical Biomolecules Innovation Lab

The northwest is in poor health: Mortality has increased since the pandemic, dementia deaths have increased, and citizens are 25% more likely to receive a cancer diagnosis than the rest of the UK. Simultaneously, the northwest is home to nearly 800 biotechnology and chemical companies, supported by several internationally renowned academic institutions. 

Biomolecules, ranging from complex protein through to simpler nucleic acids, are essential to the detection, cure and prevention of illness and disease. Yet biomolecule synthesis intrinsically embeds carbon, normally fossil-derived carbon. Avoidance of this fossil-derived carbon requires new approaches towards biomolecules synthesis, including combinations of chemical and biological production methods offering scale-up potential and the use of alternative bio-derived feedstocks. This can be achieved through harnessing the power of (for example) biocatalysts or microbiomes, by further understanding molecular-level interactions between organisms and their environments, and the metabolic pathways responsible for production of desired biomolecules. 

This Innovation Lab will incubate ideas to solve real issues of biomolecule synthesis and scale-up, heard directly from biomanufacturing companies, and develop projects to generate cost effective and sustainable biomolecules for the improvement of health in the northwest and beyond.

What to expect from the innovation lab:

• Interface northwest academics from a number of institutions with the companies at Manchester Metropolitan University.
• Provide space for companies to share their current sustainable biomolecules challenge.
• Use the Future Everything innovation lab framework to co-create a fundable project.
  Pitch the project to a panel of experts.
• Award up to £30,000 of funding for a project on the day of the lab.

Interested in getting involved? Reach out to Dr. Edward Randviir, Senior Lecturer (Green, Inorganic and Electrochemistry) of Manchester Metropolitan University to register your interest and to find out more
E.Randviir@mmu.ac.uk