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NIIMBL

UGA joins the initiative to advance US biotech manufacturing: National Institute for Innovation of Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals

NIIMBL

The University of Georgia is partnering in a biopharmaceutical innovation institute that aims to boost market production of cell-based therapies and develop a skilled workforce trained for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.

The newly created public-private partnership, called the National Institute for Innovation of Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, or NIIMBL, will focus its efforts on driving down the cost and risks associated with manufacturing advanced cell and gene therapies for biopharmaceutical production.

Steven Stice, director of the University of Georgia’s Regenerative Bioscience Center, is the UGA lead in the partnership, which is coordinated by the University of Delaware.

NIIMBL Mission

The NIIMBL mission is to accelerate biopharmaceutical manufacturing innovation, support the development of standards that enable more efficient and rapid manufacturing capabilities, and educate and train a world-leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce, fundamentally advancing U.S. competitiveness in this industry.

National Network

  • Boston Children’s TransLab
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Clemson University
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  • Delaware State University
  • Duke University
  • Emory University
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Northeastern University
  • North Carolina State University
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Purdue University
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Tulane University
  • University of Colorado
  • University of Connecticut
  • University of Delaware
  • University of Iowa
  • University of Georgia
  • University of Kansas
  • University of Kentucky
  • University of Maryland
  • University of Massachusetts
  • University of Minnesota
  • University of North Carolina
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • University of Texas
  • University of Wisconsin
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute

UGA Leadership

NIIMBL represents a total investment of $250 million, including $129 million in private cost-share commitments from the NIIMBL consortium of 150 companies, nonprofits, educational institutions and state partners across the country, combined with at least $70 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

UGA is a Tier One Partner and will be led by RBC director Steven Stice, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Stice will facilitate team assembly for response to the project calls, leveraging years of collective experience in regenerative medicine and technology development.

Stice, GRA Eminent Scholar of Regenerative Medicine is also the UGA lead for a multidisciplinary consortium, called the Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies, or CMaT, backed by the National Science Foundation. The CMaT research consortium, consisting of more than 100 members working in universities, industry and government agencies, is headquartered in Atlanta at Georgia Tech, as part of the Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing.

Industry Partners

What is Biomanufacturing?

Biopharmaceuticals are increasingly showing promising results in treating some of the most prevalent and debilitating diseases affecting human health. But manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals is not without large-scale operational and technological challenges.

NIIMBL, will focus its efforts on driving down the cost and risks associated with manufacturing advanced cell and gene therapies for biopharmaceutical production.

Video courtesy of the NIIMBL website

NIIMBL in the News