MediForge
Industry 5.0 medicines manufacturing research hub
MediForge is a major research programme to revolutionise the pharmaceutical landscape with its Industry 5.0 manufacturing system paradigm for sustainable, resilient, and human-centric medicines manufacture.
Funding: £12M
Duration: Sep 24 - Sep 31
Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Academic partners: 5
Industry partners: 20
The Challenge
Drug discovery is accelerating. Manufacturing hasn’t kept pace.
While drug discovery is becoming faster and more data-driven, pharmaceutical manufacturing still struggles with flexibility, cost and sustainability. MediForge exists to close that gap.
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Traditional Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) processes can be time-consuming, costly and fragmented, slowing the journey from scientific discovery to patient access.
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Global medicines supply chains face increasing disruption and uncertainty, highlighting the need for more resilient, agile and locally responsive manufacturing systems.
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The pharmaceutical industry is under growing pressure to reduce waste, energy consumption and emissions while maintaining product quality and regulatory compliance.
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As digital technologies transform medicines manufacturing, there is an increasing need for a workforce equipped with skills in data, automation, AI and advanced manufacturing.
The Research Framework
We’re working across five connected platforms to create one end-to-end system.
Learn
Cyber Physical Research Infrastructure linking material properties, processes and product attributes.
Model
Real-time digital twin of end-to-end CMC processes, optimising quality and sustainability.
Make
Integrated end-to-end manufacturing test bed validating quality, sustainability and resilience.
Adapt
Living Lab ecosystem enabling collaborative development, testing and scale-up of future medicines manufacturing.
Lead
Driving international leadership in Industry 5.0 and the digital transformation of medicines manufacturing.
Impact
What MediForge is built to deliver:
Faster access to medicines
Supply chain resilience
Net zero manufacturing
Future workforce
Get involved
MediForge brings together industry, academia and stakeholders from across the medicines manufacturing ecosystem to drive innovation and create real-world impact.
Industry
Collaborate with leading researchers to develop, test and accelerate the adoption of next-generation medicines manufacturing technologies.
Academia
Join a multidisciplinary research network tackling major challenges in digital and sustainable medicines manufacturing.
Contact us
Policy and Regulatory Stakeholders
Gain insight into emerging technologies and help shape future policy and regulatory approaches for medicines manufacturing.
Latest news
Funders and partners
MediForge is a seven-year, £11m programme funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a division of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through their Manufacturing Hubs for a Sustainable Future Call 2.
The programme has been co-created in collaboration with partners at the Glasgow School of Art, Imperial College London, University of Leeds, University of Sheffieldand theUniversity of Strathclyde. It is also supported by a global consortium of industry partners including Applied Materials, AstraZeneca, Bruker, Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC),Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), Chiesi, Clairet Scientific Ltd., DigiM, Lilly, M-Star Simulators, National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Siemens, Takeda, Technobis,UCB, and ULab.
What MediForge is building
The MediForge Living Lab is an open, collaborative environment where academia, industry, regulators and healthcare partners can work together to co-create, test and refine new processes, technologies and products.
To date, the Living Lab has:
Embedded agile ways of working across the research team
Launched MediForge-specific onboarding and continuing professional development through CMAC SkillsFactory
Established a researcher community to share insights and learning
Developed human-centred digital tools in collaboration with the Glasgow School of Art
These tools include:
A Crystallisation Screening CMC DataFactory augmented reality demonstrator
An updated Tableting CMC DataFactory augmented reality demonstrator
A prototype virtual AI lab assistant
The Living Lab will continue to expand with the launch of an Industry 5.0 Forum, beginning with a community-led sustainability discussion.
Why MediForge matters
Supporting more efficient and sustainable approaches to medicines development and manufacture
The pharmaceutical sector faces growing pressures from rising healthcare demand, increasingly complex supply chains, sustainability challenges, and the need to deliver innovative medicines to patients faster than ever before.
MediForge is helping to address these challenges by supporting more efficient, sustainable and resilient approaches to medicines development and manufacturing.
Through its Industry 5.0 approach, MediForge aims to deliver:
Affordable, sustainable healthcare
Faster access to medicine
Reducing barriers between scientific discovery and industrial implementation to help bring innovations to patients faster.
Resilient supply chains
Creating more agile, connected and adaptable manufacturing systems capable of responding to changing healthcare needs.
Net Zero Manufacturing
Embedding sustainability into medicines development and manufacturing through data-driven decision making and resource-efficient processes
Future workforce
Supporting more efficient and sustainable approaches to medicines development and manufacture
