One of the first biologic drugs, Insulin, was commercialised by Eli Lilly in 1982 to extend the lives of diabetes patients. Now, there are over 2,700 biologic drugs available, which are changing the lives of patients with diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Here, Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director of obsolete industrial parts supplier EU Automation, explains how biopharmaceutical plants can benefit from automation.
Automation
In April 2018, GE Healthcare launched its ready-to-run “factory-in-a-box”, to speed up the production of viral vector-based therapeutics. This is not the only company leveraging technology to increase productivity in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. In 2018, the FDA awarded five grants to research organisations to study and recommend improvements for the continuous manufacturing of biologic products.
Automation is key to making the improvements the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry needs, such as increased efficiency and capacity, while maintaining high product quality. Other manufacturing sectors, such as automotive, food and electronics, have already equipped their factories with automation technology. However, it has been difficult for the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry to do the same.