Merck, Lilly launch manufacturing R&D consortium to help ‘bolster’ U.S. production

Original from: PharmaVoice

Manufacturing investments have taken center stage in recent years — from some pharma giants ramping up GLP-1 manufacturing capacity to meet soaring demand to other companies focusing on advanced capabilities that could ensure an adequate supply of vaccines.

With the spotlight on the industry’s need to increase capacity and make manufacturing more efficient,  Eli Lilly and Merck & Co. have partnered with Purdue University to launch the Young Institute Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Consortium, which will research and develop new production technologies.

“The consortium brings together companies invested in pharmaceutical manufacturing, with the goal of spanning the value chain: Big Pharma, startups, equipment manufacturers, instrument manufacturers, packaging companies, and venture capital, to name a few. Our initial focus will be on drug product manufacturing,” Elizabeth Topp, director of the Young Institute, said via email.

The collaboration also “underscores a commitment to onshoring pharmaceutical manufacturing while bolstering domestic production,” said a press release announcing the consortium. That could be especially important as new tariffs threaten to raise costs and exacerbate shortages.

Lilly has already put its money where its mouth is in that regard, saying it will spend $3 billion to expand a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin it bought in April and add new capabilities to produce injectable medicines. It also recently invested $9 billion in an Indiana manufacturing site and opened a new facility in North Carolina.

At the new Young Institute, companies will focus on experimentation.

“We hope that innovations from our consortium will make it into ‘real’ manufacturing facilities, though,” Topp said.

One major focus of the consortium will be improving aseptic processing technology, a key component of injectable drug manufacturing, through advances including AI, robotics and in-process sensors.

“Aseptic processing maintains a sterile, microorganism-free environment during manufacturing without using heat sterilization. It’s particularly important for injectable liquid products, where sterility is an absolute requirement but where the drug could be damaged by heating,” Topp said. “These ‘sterile injectables’ include life-saving medicines like insulin and vaccines, and constitute most of the drug shortages in the U.S.”

Source: Merck, Lilly launch manufacturing R&D consortium to help ‘bolster’ U.S. production