CPI partners with Perceptive Engineering and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies to improve efficiencies in biologics manufacture

CPI, an independent technology innovation centre and founding member of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, has today announced a partnership with Perceptive Engineering and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. The companies will develop a data-driven solution to improve efficiencies during downstream biologics processing, reducing the cost of manufacturing life-saving therapies.

Biologics offer promising treatment options for disease areas with unmet clinical needs, and now represent seven of the top ten grossing drugs globally. Although advances in continuous biomanufacturing processes have made the production of biologics more efficient, the high failure rate of expensive purification resins means that manufacturing costs remain high. As part of the Digital Integrated and Intelligent Continuous (bio)Manufacturing (DIICbM) project, CPI and its partners will develop new tools to accelerate workflows and integrate process analytical technology into CPI’s existing automated platform for continuous downstream bioprocessing.

Utilising Perceptive Engineering’s PharmaMV software, the partners will collect and analyse data from CPI’s automated platform to build a model that can identify and predict the degradation and failure of purification resins. Additional data to refine the model will be provided by FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. The resins used in the manufacture of biologics are extremely expensive, and failure not only means they must be replaced, but also leads to batches of drugs that do not meet quality standards. The model being developed will enable a much greater understanding of resin failure, and the partners are working to integrate it into CPI’s automated platform to provide real-time insights. This will enable early interventions, while promoting the development of better processes that avoid resin failure altogether.

CPI was instrumental in identifying the funding streams available for the project and writing the initial proposal. Once a working model is developed, CPI will demonstrate proof-of-concept at its National Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Darlington, UK, and it will also investigate the model’s transferability to other platforms.

David Lovett, Managing Director at Perceptive Engineering, said: “By using advances in at-line process analytical technology, the DIICbM project will help to optimise end-to-end manufacturing processes at CPI’s National Biologics Manufacturing Centre. With strategic guidance from world-leading partner FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, we are hugely excited by this project.”

Jonathan Haigh, Vice President, Process Development at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies UK, said: “We are delighted to contribute to this exciting project with our technical expertise in biologics manufacturing. By increasing the efficiency of manufacturing processes, we can help to improve the accessibility of these valuable therapies to patients.”

Lucy Foley, Biologics Business Unit Director at CPI, said: “Fully optimising and automating continuous downstream processes is a vital part of streamlining biologics manufacture. Our facilities have the ideal combination of expertise and instrumentation to test and prove the innovative new technology that can achieve this.”