(579g) Invited Talk: Biomanufacturing: A One Pot Mix of Chemical Engineering, Metabolic Engineering, and Systems Biology

The Advanced Mammalian Biomanufacturing Innovation Center (AMBIC.org) is an academic-industrial-government cooperative dedicated to addressing challenges in upstream cell culture biomanufacturing. AMBIC industrial members include large and small biopharma companies, manufacturers, and suppliers. Government participants include NIST and NSF, who supports operations for the collective. Industrial and federal mentors identify scientific and engineering bottlenecks that limit the production of biopharma products used to treat cancer and other diseases, resulting in a call for proposal to academic members. Academic researchers at Johns Hopkins, Delaware, UMass Lowell, Clemson, and Maryland then work cooperatively applying chemical engineering and systems or synthetic biology principles to improve the quantity and quality of biopharma products through advances in -omics, metabolic engineering, and bioprocessing. Projects underway include efforts to develop improved media and feed formulations using thermodynamic and complexation chemistry concepts and to improve process performance through computational and machine learning models of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) production cell lines. AMBIC members are also exploring methods to enhance cell harvesting performance. Studies also assess cell line stability and robustness through metabolomics, 13C profiling and single cell transcriptomics profiling. This knowledge is then used to help direct metabolic engineering efforts implemented to modify CHO and other mammalian hosts’ metabolism and enhance stability and performance of these important bioproduction vehicles. By bringing together a community of academic, industrial, and government partners, AMBIC is leading technology innovation in early stage mammalian biomanufacturing, ensuring the development and implementation of the next generation of bioprocesses for valuable biologic medicines.