Purdue University, in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co. and Merck & Co. Inc., launched the Young Institute Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Consortium, a collaborative effort to pioneer advances in pharmaceutical manufacturing
 
Operating within Purdue’s William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals, consortium partners aim to revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing with a focus on sterile injectables and innovative aseptic manufacturing technology to ensure quality, safety and compliance.
 
“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 rely on the research strengths of Purdue, Lilly and Merck, leveraging the organizations’ collaborative research relationship and workforce development programs.
 
The consortium aims to 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.
 
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.  

“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.

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.”