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Happy Tuesday that feels like Monday,

Late last week, the  Newark-based  National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals sent along a project update.

The name is a mouthful and as time goes on, I’m guessing the acronym NIIMBL will be widely used. Landing the headquarters of the organization that gets funding from pharma companies as well as states and the federal government was a coup for Delaware and the University of Delaware.

UD went “all in” and agreed to build a  $156 million research center that will house NIIMBL and other research activities.  

Meanwhile, NIIMBL has quietly gone into operation with a staff of a couple of dozen and last week announced several projects in keeping with its goal of spurring innovation in manufacturing and in equally important work in building a talented workforce.

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The institute’s members include state government in the biopharma hot spot of Massachusetts as well as their counterparts in   Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina.  Pennsylvania and New Jersey, which have a large pharma presence,  are not part of the public-private group. 

NIIMBL is important because biopharma manufacturing is moving into a new era as breakthroughs are made on specialized treatments for cancer and other diseases that may make current practices and technology obsolete.

Meanwhile, discoveries of miracle drugs that use traditional mass production practices have become rare. Pharma companies are often forced to cut R&D costs as failures pile up.

There is also the overriding issue of costs. Manufacturing breakthroughs could sharply reduce costs of drugs, especially those made in small quantities.

The risks are many, but the potential is vast and for once Delaware is on the cutting edge.

Here’s to a shorter work week. This newsletter returns tomorrow. – Doug Rainey publisher. 

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