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.
Technology transfer and business development are important to all ERCs, but these items become increasingly important as our center makes progress towards self-sufficiency; these two items are often key aspects of sustainability. C-SOPS has developed a multi-faceted strategy to speed the adoption of our technology into industrial practice. This approach has proved to be highly successful with high rates of adoption for Center technology now occurring within the industry. The approach is also now paying off as more and larger projects from industry and FDA come to the Center.
Due to the nature of our work, we do not rely on disclosures as the main technology transfer vehicle. The very close interaction (IAB meetings, project reports, project mentor meetings, etc.) has allowed many pieces of Center technology to be transmitted to and implemented by our industrial partners after development. Trying to capture this in a table has become challenging with the current state of adoption. It should be noted that all 3 test beds have contributed significantly to advancing commercial adoption in their area of influence both directly and indirectly. Much will be reported herein about the exploding state of adoption of continuous solid dose manufacturing, but oral strip films may soon find more commercial suitors after receiving FDA funding, and the first 3D printed commercial drug was approved in 2015.
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