OUR INDUSTRY PROGRAM
Industrial/ Practitioner Collaboration & Technology Transfer
As C-SOPS transitions from NSF funding to a self-sustained operational model the Center’s presence and impact within the pharmaceutical solid dose manufacturing industrial sector continues to grow. This further strengthens the Center sustainability post NSF ERC program support. The timing in many ways could not have been planned better. Over the course of the past year or so there have been numerous accomplishments that support this position. This year we have further strengthened our partnership with key industrial partners that now constitute a significant fraction of the overall program activity. In addition, crucial events within the industry, in particular the approval of the Janssen product Prezista co-developed by C-SOPS, are driving increased interest across the sector. Equally important and just as impactful is the continued development of strong interactions and even partnerships with regulatory and related groups such as the FDA and USP.
Program Vision, Goals & Strategy
The vision of C-SOPS with respect to its industrial/practitioner program is to provide a forum where stakeholders can share problems and ideas and explore solutions in a non/pre-competitive, collaborative environment. While this has not changed much over the years in which the Center has been in operation, the climate in which the Center is operating has. Today there are many more opportunities to engage companies in areas they are actively moving into like continuous manufacturing. With this increased attention and opportunity comes competition, particularly with regard to meetings. These must be effectively managed as the Center looks to balance capitalizing on existing opportunity with an eye (and a research program) toward the future.
Similar to the vision, the Center’s unchanged goal to identify problems important to practitioners, determine barriers to solutions (especially scientific gaps), cooperatively find the solutions, and enable the solutions to become part of industrial practice should be considered an ongoing success. In many ways the goal itself is a strategy that will continue to be employed long after NSF support.
2015 was a year of flux with major sponsored activities coming online with Janssen and the FDA and even larger industrial activities being pursued on the horizon. In addition, the membership structure and research program were in transition. Even so, interest in Center activities is higher than ever.
This year we are welcoming new members Bohle, OSIsoft, and H2Optx. Bohle makes manufacturing equipment and is the second company to introduce an integrated system to the market. OSI makes enterprise data management software that can interface with the laboratory as well as plant. H2Optx is a startup making analytical instruments with original backing from Pfizer.
During this past year, C-SOPS has focused on securing our core relationships with existing partners and expanding the recognition received for contributions to the field. In 2016 C-SOPS will be launching a number of strategic initiatives that will engage the entire industry.
In addition to our reported new members, we are still discussing or are in the process of negotiating agreements with a number of potential member companies including: Takeda, Astra Zeneca, Actavis, Kaiser, and Teva. Here we list companies like in other years, but in reality the sphere of interaction has grown dramatically over the past few. The interest in commercialization of test bed 1 and the facility at Rutgers has led to hundreds of visits.
As of the end of the reporting period we had 45 members considered active including the FDA and the USP. This number differs slightly from the formal table numbers reported due to the inclusion of committed membership already paid without a contract.
Need more details? Contact us
For additional details on membership and benefits,
contact C-SOPS Associate Director Doug Hausner at doug.hausner@rutgers.edu or 215-962-2746