The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) is focused on supporting the biopharma industry to develop cell therapeutics. The organization is based in Ireland which is the third largest exporter of pharmaceuticals in the world. The NIBRT offers training programs in the CGT field, from cell engineering to advanced analytics, bioinformatics, and downstream processing.
Sakis Mantalaris, Don Panoz Chair of Pharmaceutical Biology & Principal Investigator, Trinity College Dublin & NIBRT explained that the NIBRT is a purpose-built facility that has recently completed an advanced therapies extension. A recent 2 million fill finish suite has enhanced the facility’s capabilities. Although the facility itself is very useful and adaptable to a variety of different needs, Mantalaris also emphasized the training programs on offer: “We do the traditional academic programs, MSCs, diploma certificates, but we offer short courses. Again the link between academia and industry is one to five days in duration on key specialist topics. And finally, we can actually customise training programs based on the client's needs.”
Regarding research on cell and gene therapies, the NIBRT recently received funding from the Science Foundation Ireland for their CONCEPT facility. Mantalaris outlined the goal of CONCEPT: “The aim is to provide an infrastructure ecosystem and a one-stop shop and hopefully you will see why that's the case in the thinking behind that and what CONCEPT is the example part excellence is being able to support development of advanced therapeutics. So, once you have completed your research, you can take your ideas into
CONCEPT and be able to work out everything for the production and manufacturing states.”
CONCEPT assists with sequence optimization and is then used to synthesise the molecule or transfect the cell line. CONCEPT performs synthesis using a Codex BioXP and the Maxcyte ExPERT system performs electroporation of any cell with any vector, this demonstrates its broad adaptable nature. Mantalaris introduced other technologies used by NIBRT: “We have the Precision Nano Systems Ignite system that allows you to generate nanoparticles, the liposomes that you will use in your research or process development.” Furthermore, Nova Biomedical’s FLEX2 Bioanalyzer is a fully robotic high throughput cell culture system that can select the ideal clone and optimize process parameters within CONCEPT’S facilities.
In a nutshell, CONCEPT can give end users a real product; what may start as an idea becomes reality. Mantalaris reiterated that both academia and industry can access NIBRT’s training programs. He closed with the following statement: “We focus on personalization as opposed to precision.”
