Driving Innovation in Medicines Manufacturing - current public sector initiatives to support the sector
Take a look at some upcoming events and initiatives of interest to the Medicines Manufacturing Challenge Community. Updated: 12th June 2020.
Recent days have seen a number of announcements on UK Government initiatives to support innovation and the industrial strategy. Here we summarise those that are most relevant to the medicines manufacturing sector, and highlight some upcoming activities we are delivering through our Medicines Manufacturing Challenge Community.
The UK Government announced support for UK advanced manufacturing with new investment in a digital tech competition. The £30m Competition forms part of the Manufacturing Made Smarter Challenge, funded through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and will support the application of new digital technologies, including AI and Virtual Reality, in manufacturing. This area was discussed at the recent annual conference of the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership and is a key area of technology and innovation focus.
Here is an update on some of the activities the Knowledge Transfer Network is doing to support the sector on behalf of UKRI, as well as signposting to some relevant funding mechanisms that might be of interest to you to explore further.
Watch Back:
How Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Can Benefit the Medicines Manufacturing Sector:
Upcoming Events of Interest
Formulation Challenges for Delivery of RNA Therapies
Medicines Manufacturing Challenge Community Event – Thu 24 Sep – Fri 25 Sep
Check back here for these being announced soon.
There are also a number of UKRI initiatives that may be of interest:
Funding to Support Secondments with Applications in the Biomedical Sciences
£30 million Biomedical Catalyst to launch following successful BIA campaign
Further opportunities can be found here.
Contact Sarah Goulding to engage with KTN’s medicines manufacturing team for a discussion.
Latest news:
Analytical Solutions and Challenges for Medicines Manufacturing Towards Industry 4.0 – Report
Helping MicrofluidX get to the Future Faster
The Medicine Maker Publication: “Finding New Talent” by¬†Netty England (Bioprocessing Consultant at the BioIndustry Association) and Kit Erlebach (Strategic and Transformational Venture Manager at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies) – p.34
AstraZeneca receives $1.2bn to scale-up and deliver Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine
Distributed production of RNA vaccines for agile response to outbreaks | Robin Shattock
Formulation Challenges for Delivery of RNA Therapies
BIA Vaccines Manufacturing Taskforce FAQs & Key Messages
New Date Announced for Medicines Manufacturing Challenge Community Event
Data Driven Decision Making for Bioprocessing – KTN & FDB Report
Global Business Innovation Programme – China – Precision Medicine
How Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Can Benefit the Medicines Manufacturing Sector 
Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult CEO to Retire
Measurement science in the UK faces uncertainty: can CAMS lead the scientific rebellion?
Apply to find partners, end-users and customers at Smart Factory Expo
About the Medicines Manufacturing Challenge Community:
Since 2017 the medicines manufacturing theme of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund has seen over £146m invested in infrastructure projects and collaborative research, including the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), Cell & Gene therapy investments and Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres. Building on KTN’s previous work and established communities in elements of the sector, our goal now is to develop a well-networked Challenge Community to accelerate the outcomes from the medicines manufacturing ISCF challenge. Working with the ISCF Challenge Director, our core goals are to connect and grow the sector, through working in partnership with other networks and organisations to facilitate collaboration and innovation across industry. Medicines Manufacturing links with other ISCF challenge areas, such as AI, Healthy Ageing and Made Smarter, so this Challenge Community will strengthen links across these sectors and provide novel solutions to key industry challenges. Working through our partnership in the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership, with BIA and ABPI aiding this aim, a defined community identity (visible on the KTN website and social media), a series of events and workshops, white papers, case studies and new thoughts on technology and innovation needs will be delivered within 18 months.
You can find out more information on MMCC by clicking here.