Biomanufacturing, a revolutionary approach to sustainability and responsibility, harnesses the power of engineered microorganisms to create valuable products with desirable properties. This groundbreaking field offers greater efficiency and sustainability compared to traditional methods, addressing the pressing environmental and social crisis. Professor Demirel, a visionary researcher and co-founder of Tandem Repeat Technologies, is at the forefront of this transformative field.
Nature’s Efficient Energy Sources and Biopolymers
An astounding 550 billion tons of carbon can be found in natural biomass across all lifeforms, with the plant kingdom alone accounting for a staggering 450 billion tons. These organisms produce biopolymers like cellulose, chitin, and alginate, which form impressive membrane complexes through covalently bonded monomeric units. Cellulose, an abundant and versatile energy source, has countless everyday applications, such as paper production. In recent years, scientists have discovered ways to transform cellulose into monomers for consumer materials traditionally sourced from crude oil. However, many of these processes result in low-value chemicals with short molecules and filaments, necessitating the development of novel processing methods.
The Future of Biomanufacturing: Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Innovation
Biomanufacturing presents numerous benefits, including a better understanding of molecular synthesis and assembly processes. However, translating these theoretical advantages into cost-effective large-scale production remains a challenge. To address this issue, four main elements must be addressed:
- Efficient Transport of Metabolites, Feedstocks, and Waste: Efficient transport of metabolites, feedstocks, and waste within a multicellular organism can be achieved through vascularization, increasing solubility and enhancing fermentation activity.
- Energy Efficiency: Energy efficiency is crucial for bioproduction. For instance, bacteria require up to 1000 watts/kg, while animals or plants only need 1 watt/kg, making more energy-efficient sources essential.
- Biomass Control: Biomass control is limited by the size of the organism and division rate.
- Contamination or Sterilization Costs: Contamination or sterilization costs are significant challenges in producing large batches.
Exploring the Potential of Engineered Plant Genomes
Exploring the potential of engineered plant genomes to create biopolymers could provide a viable alternative to traditional microbial fermentation. However, ensuring genetically engineered organisms (GMOs) are responsibly contained and regulated presents its own challenges.
The Future of Biomanufacturing: Trends and Innovations
Building Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Facilities and Expertise
Vaccines, therapies (drugs, cells, and antibodies), and diagnostics rely on GMP facilities for the manufacture of their critical reagents. Expect to see major investments and further build out of capabilities in order to support research and development with facilities, manufacturing, engineering, and regulatory capacity to enable GMP BioManufacturing.
Distributed Production
There is a growing trend towards the production of raw components that make up the vaccines, therapies, and diagnostics across a distributed system instead of centralized manufacturing facilities. This approach has several key benefits. First of all, it makes for a more flexible environment in which multiple initiatives can be explored simultaneously without manufacturing constraints. Exploration of expanded initiatives leads to a higher chance of finding the innovations that work best.
Advancements in Bio Reactor Technology
Bioreactors are a critical component in the BioManufacturing process. Improvement, innovations, and research and development spending in the bioreactor engineering field are projected to explode in the coming years. Additional demands brought on by the increasing complexity of the biology (i.e., tissue and whole organ engineering) and use cases (i.e., point of care treatment) are going to drive demand.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Biomanufacturing
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved significantly over the past decade and is poised to be one of the most crucial technologies in the future of pharmaceutical production. AI is expanding into various aspects of pharmaceutical manufacturing and regulatory compliance. It will present real-life case studies on the successful implementation of AI for compliance such as the creation of the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT), Site Acceptance Test (SAT), Installation Qualification (IQ), Operational Qualification (OQ), Performance Qualification (PQ), and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) documentation.
The Future of Biomanufacturing: Challenges and Opportunities
Despite the obstacles, biomanufacturing holds immense promise, offering revolutionary solutions to existing problems by addressing these challenges and embracing new technologies. The future of biomanufacturing will require an innovative and flexible approach to inactive eukaryotic, microbial, and viral organisms in a continuous operation to advance global vaccine production. Emerging leaders in the field of biopharmaceutical manufacturing are poised to have a profound impact on the global outlook for the industry’s future.
Conclusion
Biomanufacturing is poised to revolutionize the way we produce valuable compounds and materials. With advancements in bioreactor technology, distributed production, and the integration of AI, the future of biomanufacturing looks promising. However, overcoming challenges such as efficient transport of metabolites, feedstocks, and waste, energy efficiency, biomass control, and contamination or sterilization costs will be crucial to realizing the full potential of this field.
Sources
- Biomanufacturing: Present And Future – Forbes
- To Lead Us into the Future, U.S. Biomanufacturing Needs to Expand – Genengnews
- The Future of BioManufacturing – StarFish Medical
- Trends and Innovations in Bio-Manufacturing. Global Outlook on the Future of Biopharmaceuticals – ISPE
- The Future of Biotech – DNI.gov