BPOG, NIIMBL To Collaborate On U.S.-Specific Roadmap For Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry

BioPhorum Operations Group (BPOG) and the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) are pleased to announce they have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop a US-specific roadmap for the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry to complement the existing BPOG global roadmap.

Under the terms of the agreement, NIIMBL will join BPOG's Technology Roadmap Phorum as a member with representation at Steering Committee and Workstream levels. As a Phorum member, NIIMBL will leverage BPOG's recently published Technology Roadmap to prioritize activities andinform project calls for the NIIMBL community.

BPOG will continue to own and facilitate its Technology Roadmap and, in collaboration with NIIMBL, facilitate the development and publication of a NIIMBL-owned, US-specific component that is expected to form part of the global Roadmap document. The US-specific Roadmap will focus on economic, regulatory, workforce development and research challenges facing the US
biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry. It will also address NIIMBL's interests in both existing products (antibodies, proteins, vaccines, etc.) and emerging products (gene and cell therapies, exosomes, etc.)

According to Dr. Kelvin Lee, NIIMBL Institute Director, "The partnership with BPOG enables us to leverage and synergize with the established global biopharmaceutical Technology Roadmap to help NIIMBL prioritise technology development in the short term. In the longer term, the collaboration will help NIIMBL develop a US-specific Roadmap component that will further facilitate our mission to accelerate US biopharmaceutical manufacturing innovation."

The partnership with NIIMBL represents an exciting next step on the path towards BPOG's ambition to become the 'go to' place for biopharmaceutical road mapping. In addition to plans to broaden the scope of future editions of the Technology Roadmap to include emerging products, vaccines and blood products, BPOG also aims to leverage its knowledge and experience of road mapping processes to assist other regional innovation hubs to localize their own roadmaps. At the same time, the partnership with BPOG will enable NIIMBL to focus resources on the advancement of manufacturing technologies and standards to enhance patient access to biopharmaceutical medicines. NIIMBL is the largest public-private partnership in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and is comprised of industry, academic and government partners with more than $200 million (USD) of resources to advance technology and workforce development activities.

According to Steve Jones, BPOG Director: "We are delighted that NIIMBL has chosen to use the BPOG Technology Roadmap as a guide to inform technology development. Furthermore, we look forward to working with NIIMBL to explore the issues and challenges facing the US biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry."

NIIMBL
NIIMBL is a public-private partnership made up of industry, academic, non-profit and government entities. NIIMBL is sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), within the U.S. Department of Commerce. NIIMBL's mission is to accelerate innovation in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, support the development of standards to enable more efficient and rapid manufacturing capabilities, and educate and train a world-leading workforce in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. As a member of the Manufacturing USA network of innovation institutes addressing key sectors of the US economy, NIIMBL is a catalyst for innovation that leverages the resources of small, medium and large companies, academic institutions, government laboratories, state governments and non-profits. You can find out more at www.niimbl.org.

BioPhorum Operations Group

Since its inception in 2004, the BioPhorum Operations Group (BPOG) has become a trusted environment where senior leaders of the biopharma industry come together to openly share and discuss the emerging trends and challenges facing their industry. The strong cross-company relationships built through BPOG have provided the solid foundation from which highly effective collaborations have grown, each focusing on key operational challenges, improving competitiveness and reducing patient risk. As well as the Technology Roadmap, BPOG runs five other Phorums - Drug Substance, The Development Group, Fill Finish, IT and Supply Partner. You can find out more at www.biophorum.com.