Promoting Sustainability through Next-Generation Biologics Drug Development

Abstract

The fourth industrial revolution in 2011 aimed to transform the traditional manufacturing processes. As part of this revolution, disruptive innovations in drug development and data science approaches have the potential to optimize CMC (chemistry, manufacture, and control). The real-time simulation of processes using “digital twins” can maximize efficiency while improving sustainability. As part of this review, we investigate how the World Health Organization’s 17 sustainability goals can apply toward next-generation drug development. We analyze the state-of-the-art laboratory leadership, inclusive personnel recruiting, the latest therapy approaches, and intelligent process automation. We also outline how modern data science techniques and machine tools for CMC help to shorten drug development time, reduce failure rates, and minimize resource usage. Finally, we systematically analyze and compare existing approaches to our experiences with the high-throughput laboratory KIWI-biolab at the TU Berlin. We describe a sustainable business model that accelerates scientific innovations and supports global action toward a sustainable future.