Next Generation Nanopharma Process Development Platform (NaPRO)

Lead Applicant: Dr Luis Padrela, Department of Chemical Sciences and Bernal Institute

Nanopharmaceuticals have the potential to overcome the current barriers that life-saving medicines are facing to reach the market. However, drug development and launch of novel medicines containing nanomaterials are being hampered world-wide by limitations in the ability to develop robust and scalable compliant methods of production that enable progression from a small production scale (in the mg range) to a commercially relevant scale (in the kg range). The purpose of this infrastructure is to provide a unique state-of-the-art testbed with new ‘smart’ process systems, which will allow to de-risk the scalability and manufacture of nano(bio)pharmaceuticals and facilitate the adaptation of these technologies to existing industrial facilities. Critically, this capability is not currently available in Ireland.