Purdue teams with Lilly, Merck to launch pharma manufacturing initiative
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Purdue University is partnering with Eli Lilly and Co. and New Jersey-based Merck & Co. Inc. to launch an institute aimed at pioneering advances in the development of new medicines.
The Young Institute Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Consortium will focus on the manufacturing of sterile injectables and “innovative aseptic manufacturing technology,” the university said Friday.
The consortium, Purdue said, will place a special emphasis on using new technologies, autonomous systems, and smart AI and digital technologies to enhance advanced manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.
“We’re on the frontier of Pharma 4.0—autonomous experimentation, advanced robotics, big data, smart factories, AI and machine learning,” Karen Plaut, Purdue’s executive vice president for research, said in a news release. “Through this partnership, we will have a global impact in solving complex problems in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem.”
Purdue said the collaboration underscores a commitment to onshoring pharmaceutical manufacturing and bolstering domestic production.
The consortium will be led by Elizabeth Topp, a professor in Purdue’s Department of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics and the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering.
The group will seek to create new systems using automated visual inspection and in-line process and product quality monitoring, which Purdue said will require a new generation of skilled manufacturing engineers and scientists.
“Addressing pharma manufacturing challenges requires a significant advancement in technology. With an alliance of this caliber, the consortium will explore greater emphasis on both current and future advanced chemistries and accelerate research of innovative discoveries,” Topp said.
Merck Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Dave Maraldo added that using smart technology to accelerate the timeline from research to market will help reduce costs and bring effective therapies to patients more quickly.
“Harnessing innovation will help create a safe and sustainable future for the industry, and most importantly, allow us to better serve patients,” Maraldo said.
The consortium will operate within Purdue’s William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals.