A consortium of UK business and academia has introduced the launch of a venture exploring the event of sustainable 3D printing supplies for bioprocessing functions.
The collaboration, named Mission Nexus, is being led by £1.4 million in funding from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation: Collaborative R&D programme and goals to domesticate new sustainable supplies tailor-made for single-use bioprocessing tools akin to bioreactors.
Mission companions embody 3D printing firm Photocentric; prescribed drugs and life sciences tools provider Sartorius; AM-focused design consultancy Metamorphic; UK Excessive Worth Manufacturing Catapult centre CPI; and tutorial establishments, the College of Sheffield and Imperial School London.
In accordance with a press launch, Mission Nexus goals to ‘pioneer the way forward for additive manufacturing of bioreactors at scale’ by leveraging AM’s design freedoms and providing a extra sustainable various to single use bioreactors by greener materials formulations. That is stated to be achievable utilizing new bio-based resins to supply thermosets that may be autoclaved for reuse. Whereas Single-Use Applied sciences (SUTs) are stated to supply solely small ranges of plastic waste yearly, the venture goals to create ‘enhanced circularity and end-of-life pathways’ whereas retaining the advantages of SUTs akin to sooner setup, versatile course of configurations, and reductions in water, electrical energy, and caustic chemical use. Tony Jackson, Director of Formulation at CPI stated that the venture is “enabling a extra sustainable future for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.”
Jeremy Pullin, Head of AM & Manufacturing Know-how of Sartorius commented, “The objectives on the coronary heart of the Nexus venture transcend merely enabling us to unlock the functions of at the moment. In addition they permit us to comprehend the longer term obligations of us all, by the event of sustainable materials formulations. Sartorius is dedicated, excited and proud to work alongside an incredible consortium of companions to carry this imaginative and prescient to actuality.”
The additive manufacturing factor will come from Photocentric’s JENI, a modular LCD-driven 3D printing platform, which makes use of robotics to automate each printing and mandatory post-processing steps for mass manufacturing volumes. The bioreactors shall be examined for pharmaceutical R&D and point-of-care manufacturing, with potential reuse in industrial biotechnology for inexperienced chemical manufacturing. The venture additionally goals to spotlight the technical, financial, and environmental advantages of AM in lowering waste and enhancing effectivity by materials circularity and suppleness. Mission Nexus is set to ship over the following 24 months.
Jose Casamayor Alarco, Technical Fellow at College of Sheffield AMRC stated, “This collaborative initiative shall be a major step in making the biopharmaceutical sector extra sustainable, in the end advancing the UK’s web zero ambitions.”
