Accelerating the translation of digital medicines manufacturing into industrial application.
Funding: £6.4M
Duration: Apr 22 - Mar 26
Funder: UKRI Made Smarter Innovation
Academic partners: University of Strathclyde, University of Cambridge, Loughborough University
Industry partners: 32
The Digital Medicines Manufacturing Research Centre project (known as DM²) has delivered a step-change in CMAC’s digital capability for advanced manufacturing. Over its duration, the project has built powerful digital tools to advance automation, modelling and data-driven innovation ready to shape the future of medicines manufacturing across research and industry.
Project overview
DM² addressed a critical challenge facing medicines development: translating rapidly advancing digital and data‑driven research into practical, scalable manufacturing improvements that industry can adopt with confidence. Despite significant progress in digital tools, their application into real‑world pharmaceutical development remained fragmented, limiting impact on speed, robustness and sustainability.
This challenge was important to CMAC, industry and the wider sector. UK and global medicines manufacturing faces increasing pressure to deliver treatments faster, more sustainably and with greater resilience. Building on evidence from DM² Phase 1 (Apr 22 - Mar 25), which demonstrated significant reductions in development time and materials waste, the DM² Accelerator (Apr 25 -Mar 26) focused on turning digital capability into usable, transferable assets. At the same time, it strengthened skills and lowered adoption barriers for pharma and SMEs.
Strategically, the programme aligned directly with CMAC’s priorities to advance cyber‑physical research infrastructure, improve industrial translation and support national advanced manufacturing ambitions. By integrating data, automation and human‑centred design across the CMC DataFactories®, the project enabled more connected, model‑driven ways of working and accelerated progress towards responsive, sustainable manufacturing.
Through industry co‑creation, demonstration trials and technology transfer packages, DM² strengthened CMAC’s research excellence, expanded its digital manufacturing platform, and established clear pathways from research to industrial practice. In doing so, it demonstrated what smarter, faster and more agile medicines manufacturing can look like in practice, positioning CMAC and its partners at the forefront of digital CMC innovation.
DM² was structured around four core objectives:
Advance integrated, autonomous research environments by connecting data, models, automation and physical facilities into cohesive, digital‑first workflows.
Accelerate industrial translation and commercial readiness through user‑led design, demonstration trials and the creation of transferable technology packages.
Build digital skills and capability across pharmaceutical manufacturing, supporting both current workforce upskilling and future talent.
Enable more sustainable and responsive medicines manufacturing, aligned with UK advanced manufacturing ambitions and industry needs.
Research highlights
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Knowledge Graph–enabled digital CMC
Delivered an interoperable, FAIR data backbone connecting models, experiments and workflows across multiple CMC DataFactories®, enabling semantically searchable and reusable digital research at scale.
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Integrated cyber‑physical manufacturing workflows
Demonstrated end‑to‑end, model‑driven workflows linking crystallisation, tableting and analytics, showing how digital and physical systems can operate together in real time.
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Advanced, industry‑relevant DataFactory capability
Upgraded and extended our Tableting and Crystallisation Screening CMC DataFactories® to higher technology readiness, supporting potent compounds and industrial trial conditions.
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Human‑centric digital manufacturing interfaces
Embedded XR dashboards and natural‑language tools to improve accessibility, insight and usability of complex digital manufacturing systems for researchers and industry users.
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Validated digital translation through real case studies
Delivered multi‑partner demonstration trials, including a Dexamethasone case study, proving digital CMC approaches can accelerate decision‑making, robustness and sustainability in practice.
What we delivered
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The project created a suite of tools that strengthen research, process design and decision-making:
Predictive models for drug substance and product processes
Real-time process analytics
Digital twins and simulation environments
Automated data pipelines
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Our CMC DataFactories are enabling 24/7 high‑throughput experimentation and reducing manual intervention including:
Integration of autonomous workflows
Automated experimental planning
Enhanced data capture and monitoring
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The project delivered new modelling tools and techniques:
New mechanistic and data-driven models
Improved process design and optimisation
Model‑based control and risk assessment
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DM2 worked in partnership with industry collaborators to validate tools, share data and accelerate digital transformation across the sector.
Co‑development with industrial partners
Validation in real manufacturing settings
Shared datasets and aligned workflows
Commercialisation pathway development via OpenCMC (University of Strathclyde spin‑out)
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We’ve created tools to build a digitally‑enabled workforce.
Training modules for researchers and partners
Upskilling across automation, modelling, and digital literacy
Cross-team learning embedded into CMAC culture
CMAC SkillsFactory, an online learning platform
Discover more about DM² below. Here, you’ll find annual reviews tracking the projects progress, a full list of publications, and links to case studies showing impact in action.
Impact highlights
41 peer-reviewed papers published across the programme
814 people upskilled in digital pharmaceutical manufacturing
50-80% reduction reduction in material waste demonstrated through digital-first approaches
£4M co-invested by industry partners across collaborative trials and development
6 industry trials delivered, validating digital CMC tools in real manufacturing settings
What’s next?
Work from the DM² project is being taken forward through continued development of the CMC DataFactories® as connected digital manufacturing platforms, feeding directly into MediForge to support end‑to‑end, translation‑focused medicines development.
Validated workflows, data architectures and design assets are progressing towards industrial uptake through OpenCMC, enabling scalable deployment while continuing to support skills development and collaborative research.
Words from our collaborators
“DM² has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career — giving me the chance to work on advanced AI and modelling for real pharmaceutical manufacturing challenges. Working with CMAC colleagues, industry partners and technology providers, we developed digital twins and data-driven workflows that can cut formulation development from months to days.
DM² has given me the platform to grow towards an independent research career in digital pharmaceutical manufacturing.”
— Mohammad Salehian, Senior Modelling & Simulation Scientist, CMAC
“DM² exemplifies a forward-thinking model for UK medicines manufacturing, by paving the way for rapid, data-driven responses to healthcare needs.
Beyond the current achievements, future efforts could focus on advancing these technologies and applying the insights to additional dosage forms, such as inhaled and liquid medicines, for targeted therapeutic modalities.”
— Professor Alastair Florence, Director, CMAC
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