PhD in Integrated bioprocess economics and sustainability analysis
University College London
Sustainability has become a major driver in the biopharmaceutical industry, shaping innovation to reduce the environmental footprint while enabling broader patient access to novel therapies. As the demand for advanced biotherapeutics grows, intensified manufacturing strategies are critical for ensuring global accessibility while meeting cost and sustainability targets.
To identify the biggest levers for carbon footprint, waste and cost reduction, it is imperative to have advanced modelling tools to evaluate alternative process intensification, plastics degradation and novel sustainable materials (e.g. filters, resins, bags). This project aims to devise a set of integrated economics and sustainability tools that can evaluate alternative manufacturing, supply and end-of-life strategies for novel modalities in terms of their cost, process mass intensity, carbon footprint and broader sustainability indicators. This will be used to weigh up the financial, environmental and operational implications of a range of process intensification approaches and plastics degradation approaches for a selected set of emerging modalities (e.g. CAR-Ts, viral vectors, RNA). This will determine when it makes sense to pursue disruptive strategies and identify the technical innovation or process intensification required to meet cost and sustainability targets.
This position is part of the UCL-Cytiva Centre of Excellence (CoE), led by UCL Biochemical Engineering with the industrial partner Cytiva. The goal of this strategic partnership is to advance medicine manufacture and enhance patient access to novel therapies.