$1.9 million for TU Future Lab

Pipetting robots for sample preparation

Pipetting robot with multi-bioreactor system

Professor Dr. Peter Neubauer from TU Berlin receives the renowned Agilent Thought Leader Award. This has been announced by the company Agilent Technologies. As head of the Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Peter Neubauer conducts research to develop new methods for faster bioprocess development, including genetic, culturing, and analytical tools with a particular focus on industrial scale.

For real-time determination of critical quality attributes (CQAs) and thus for the optimization of biotechnological applications, automation and high throughput are required. Significant resources are invested in the development of Process Analytical Technology (PAT). This is a method for designing, evaluating, and controlling pharmaceutical manufacturing processes using monitoring of quality-relevant parameters. The goal is to minimize risks to public health.

In his work, Peter Neubauer combines hardware, software, automation, mathematical models, and artificial intelligence to find optimal conditions for seamless workflows in process analytical technology. The integration of intelligent technologies and automation into PAT solutions is a key factor in the development of the pharmaceutical industry towards optimized bioprocesses that increase safety and reduce manual intervention efforts. With the Agilent Thought Leader Award, Neubauer and his team are supported in their ongoing research to better understand and optimize bioprocesses for difficult-to-express proteins, as well as in developing scale-up and scale-down strategies.

"We are very grateful and excited that the award from Agilent gives us the opportunity to work in our new bioprocess laboratory with two-dimensional liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The use of such state-of-the-art instruments is an essential part of our path towards a higher degree of automated bioprocess development," says Peter Neubauer, founder and head of the KIWI-biolab, which operates as an "International Future Lab for Artificial Intelligence" conducting research on AI for intelligent, integrated biolabs. "Given our recent progress in the smooth coordination of all devices required for the process, from extensive analyte-specific sample preparation to processing large data sets, we are ready to take the next logical step towards integration."

"Agilent is very pleased to award Dr. Neubauer this Thought Leader Award and thus support his scientific developments in the field of biopharmacy," says Sudharshana Seshadri, Vice President of Agilent and Managing Director of Liquid Chromatography, Mass Spectrometry, and Automation divisions, who is the sponsor of the award. "His important work will help the pharmaceutical industry optimize bioprocesses and accelerate improvements in healthcare worldwide."

The Agilent Thought Leader Award program promotes fundamental scientific advances by providing financial support, products, and expertise for research by influential thought leaders in the fields of biosciences, diagnostics, and chemical analysis.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies is one of the world's leading companies in analytical and clinical laboratory technologies, offering its customers insights and innovations that support them in conducting outstanding science. Agilent's comprehensive range of products includes instruments, software, services, and expertise, enabling customers to obtain reliable answers to the most challenging questions. The company achieved a revenue of $6.85 billion in fiscal year 2022 and employs 18,000 people worldwide.

For further information, contact:

Prof. Dr. Peter Neubauer
Department of Bioprocess Engineering
Institute of Biotechnology
TU Berlin
Ackerstrasse 76
13355 Berlin
Tel.: (0)30-314-72269
Email: peter.neubauer@tu-berlin.de

Naomi Goumillout
Agilent Technologies
+1.978.314.1862
naomi.goumillout@agilent.com