Biologics Manufacturers Need More Adaptable, Modular Strategies: Tufts Study

Makers of biopharmaceuticals will need to become more modular and agile to adjust for trends in personalized medicine and oncology, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

Instead of using traditional facilities and processes — such as $600 million bioreactor facilities — manufacturers could use modular facilities that cost under $100 million and can be implemented with disposable technologies, said David Pollard, executive director of bioprocess technology at Merck Research Labs, in a CSDD paper that summarizes an expert workshop held in October 2015.

The industry must find ways to address the difficulty of predicting clinical and market needs, especially in oncology, said Pollard in the paper titled Manufacturing Strategy for Diverse Biologics Pipelines of the Future.