Pharmaceutical Production: Research College dedicated to biopharmaceutical process engineering

The TUK coordinates the new research college. (Photo: Patric Kleine)

To produce active pharmaceutical ingredients such as antibiotics, microorganisms are interesting as tiny factories for industry. The fundamental process engineering principles necessary for the production of such substances are to be conveyed to doctoral students by the new research college "iProcess - Intelligent Process Development – from Modeling to Product." The project is coordinated by the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK). It collaborates with the Technical University of Bingen and the University of Trier. The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Science supports the college in its funding line "Research Colleges Rhineland-Palatinate" for three years with an annual budget of 250,000 euros.

Bacteria and fungi are not only important to industry when it comes to the production of foods such as cheese, yogurt, or beer. These microorganisms are also in demand in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.

In the new research college, doctoral students are to learn important process engineering fundamentals, where the organisms are used as mini-factories. The focus is on the production of an antibiotic using cyanobacteria and of so-called protease inhibitors through fungi. These inhibitors, for example, play a role in the treatment of the HIV virus.

"The college covers all the important stages involved in such a process chain," says iProcess spokesperson, Professor Dr. Roland Ulber from the Department of Bioprocess Engineering at TUK. This ranges from cultivating microorganisms in bioreactors to purifying the finished active ingredient. "It also involves developing techniques to increase the efficiency of these processes," adds Professor Dr. Percy Kampeis of the University of Trier (Environmental Campus Birkenfeld), who is also a spokesperson for the college.

In addition to Professors Ulber and Kampeis, the research college involves two colleagues from Kaiserslautern: Professor Dr. Werner R. Thiel from the Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Professor Dr. Hans Hasse from the Thermodynamics Department. They will work closely with their partners Professor Dr. Kai Muffler (Bioprocess Engineering) from the Technical University of Bingen, as well as Professor Dr. Ulrich Bröckel (Solid-State Process Engineering) and Professor Dr. Michael Wahl (Development and Design) from the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld.

The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Science funds the training of young scientists for three years with an annual amount of 250,000 euros. The goal is also to lay the foundation for a Rhineland-Palatinate-wide cooperation platform in the field of biopharmaceutical process engineering.