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Enabling Large-Scale GMP-ready Peptide Production with a new, reliable and cost-efficient Bioprocess

Project description

Novel technologies will ensure peptide-based therapies can meet their demand

Proteins are the workhorses of the human body. Their dysfunction is linked to numerous disease processes and disorders, so it is not surprising that peptides (small portions of proteins) have been increasingly used in therapeutics. In addition to their selectivity and efficacy, they are also biocompatible. With the rapidly growing need for peptides, manufacturers are facing challenges with high production costs and low scalability. The German SME Numaferm has developed patented technologies enabling scalable production, a 50-fold reduction in manufacturing costs and a more than 90 % reduction in carbon footprint. The EU-funded NUMA-SCALE project will help the team to expand production and commercial opportunities.

Objective

Peptides, competent biomolecules, have gained increased interest as innovative therapeutics in the pharmaceutical market due to being highly selective, efficacious, relatively safe and well tolerated. Peptide-based drugs have been successfully applied in treating certain human diseases. Well-known example includes insulin, which compromises a peptide that is built to block and control the metabolism of sugar. With the increase of approved peptide-based drugs, the production of peptides will escalate. Yet, peptide manufacture companies (for peptide-based drugs), which need to be compliant with good manufacturing practices (GMP), face a several challenges, the main ones being high production costs on downstream processes (due to the use of high raw material amounts) and bad scalability. Numaferm is a German company founded in 2015 with the mission of making peptides economical for pharmaceutical markets. To tackle current challenges, we have developed two (patented) innovative technologies (NUMAtag and NUMAswitch) whose unique features are not offered by the alternatives in the market for peptide manufacture: cost-efficient production (50x reduction of manufacturing costs, under GMP); environmentally friendly process (reduced carbon foot print by >90%); scalable production (peptide scalability by ton scale with no peptide length limitation), thus enabling a high efficiency upstream and downstream process for peptide manufacture. Through the NUMA-SCALE project we aim to upscale our production and extend our commercial capabilities (by making our processes ready for tech-transfer into GMP facilities of Contract Manufacture Organizations) thus allowing us to seize more business opportunities. This project will have a massive positive impact to Numaferm – will boost our revenues (+€14.8M by 2023), employability (creation of 15 new jobs) and generate new IP, allowing us to continuously venture new markets with our technology.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

NUMAFERM GMBH
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 50 000,00
Address
MEROWINGERPLATZ 1A
40225 DUSSELDORF
Germany

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 71 429,00
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