WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University, in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company and Merck & Co. Inc., announced Friday (Jan. 17) the launch of the Young Institute Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Consortium, a collaborative effort to pioneer advances in making medicines.
Operating within Purdue’s William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals, consortium partners will revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing with a focus on sterile injectables and innovative aseptic manufacturing technology to ensure quality, safety and compliance.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a key component of Purdue’s One Health initiative, which advances knowledge and innovation related to animal, human and environmental health and well-being through novel interdisciplinary research and industry partnerships.
“We’re on the frontier of Pharma 4.0 — autonomous experimentation, advanced robotics, big data, smart factories, AI and machine learning,” said Karen Plaut, Purdue’s executive vice president for research. “Through this partnership, we will have a global impact in solving complex problems in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem.”
The consortium will elevate and enhance pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical advanced manufacturing by developing disruptive innovative technologies, autonomous systems, and smart AI and digital technology, together with industrially relevant education and training for the next generation of scientific leaders and researchers. The collaboration also underscores a commitment to onshoring pharmaceutical manufacturing while bolstering domestic production.
“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,” said Elizabeth Topp, director of the Young Institute.
Topp, who will serve as the new consortium’s director, is a professor in the Department of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics and the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering and is an expert in improving the shelf life and stability of pharmaceuticals.
The consortium will rely on the distinctive research strengths of Purdue, Lilly and Merck, leveraging the organizations’ collaborative research relationship and workforce development programs.
The members anticipate the consortium will attract broad participation throughout the sector from other pharmaceutical companies, pharma contract manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, startups and venture capital firms, and will result in a broad base of stakeholders to chart the industry’s future course.
The consortium will look to create systems equipped with automated visual inspection and in-line process and product quality monitoring, all of which will require a new generation of skilled pharmaceutical manufacturing engineers and scientists. Through research excellence and comprehensive training opportunities, this program is poised to continue strengthening the pharmaceutical sciences program and preparing talent to support the growth of the sector.
“Being a founding member of the Young Institute means building on the remarkable legacy of next-generation manufacturing,” said Arup Roy, senior vice president, technical services and manufacturing science at Lilly. “Together, we will transform the industry with advanced aseptic manufacturing technologies, innovative research, and top-notch education and training to bring pharmaceutical sciences into the future with sterile processing standards. Our work honors Bill Young’s visionary spirit to shape the future of manufacturing and make it a core industry competency for a lasting impact on global communities.”
Merck Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Dave Maraldo said generative AI, machine learning and quantum computing are the future of the manufacturing process.
“If our collaborative research efforts can use smart technology to accelerate the timeline from research to market, we can reduce costs and bring critical and effective therapies to patients with greater speed,” Maraldo said. “Harnessing innovation will help create a safe and sustainable future for the industry, and most importantly, allow us to better serve patients.”
In addition to industry, the Young Institute Consortium will be supported by Purdue’s colleges of Engineering, Pharmacy and Science, which will strengthen its ability to establish strategic priorities for training and education, to foster student engagement and to advance expertise in the field.