Project description
Advancing the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals
Biological drugs are disease-modifying compounds such as cytokines or antibodies that are produced by cells in vitro. They are used to treat various diseases including inflammatory diseases and cancer. However, the inherent variability of cells used in the manufacturing process poses a technical challenge. The scope of the EU-funded STACCATO project is to improve existing cell-production systems to deliver uniform and safe biological drugs. The project involves the training of young researchers in experimental and computational methods for the analysis of cell variability and performance to improve the production of biological drugs.
Objective
Our ability to utilise biological systems to produce medicines has improved the quality of life for millions of EU citizens. In recent years a new wave of exciting biopharmaceuticals have been discovered with the potential to advance current treatments for a variety of disorders. These new medicines, however, are becoming increasingly complex and difficult to manufacture. Overcoming the inherent heterogeneity of cells grown in vitro to produce effective, uniform and safe biopharmaceuticals is one of the most significant challenges faced by industry today.
The STACCATO European Industrial Doctorate has been specifically designed to strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity and leadership in the BioPharma sector. The consortium will provide exceptional intersectoral training to 11 ESRs through pioneering research focused on harnessing recent advances in single cell analysis to generate and apply a new suite of tools for cell culture process development. ESRs will participate in a specialised training programme to build their proficiency in essential research and industry disciplines. Additional training in professional skills and entrepreneurship will enable ESRs to become future leaders in biopharmaceutical manufacturing science.
STACCATO is composed of an industry leader in instrumentation for cellular analysis, 3 innovative biotechnology SMEs, a leading academic institution and a research conducting biological medicines regulatory agency. The STACCATO EID will immerse all ESRs in highly dynamic industrial environments while receiving supervision from leading academics. A feature of STACCATO is collaboration amongst experts in the production of different biopharmaceuticals such as therapeutic proteins and CAR T cell therapy. All ESRs will receive unparalleled exposure to pan-biopharmaceutical manufacturing challenges to foster collaboration, catalyse synergies across the network and ultimately create a truly unique training experience.
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Programme(s)
Coordinator
4 Blackrock Dublin
Ireland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.