CMAC’s FLAGSHIP RESEARCH PROGRAMME
MediForge
MediForge is a seven-year, £12m Industry 5.0 research hub building the people, processes and technologies needed 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.
Slow CMC development
Traditional Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls processes are time-consuming, costly and fragmented — slowing the journey from discovery to patient access.
Environmental pressures
The pharmaceutical industry faces growing pressure to reduce waste, energy consumption, and emissions while maintaining quality and regulatory compliance.
Fragile supply chains
Global medicine supply chains face increasing disruption and uncertainty, highlighting the need for more resilient, agile and locally responsive systems.
Workforce skills gap
As digital technologies transform medicines manufacturing, there is an increasing need for a workforce equipped with skills in data, automation, AI and advanced manufacturing.
RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Five connected platforms. One end-to-end system.
MediForge works across five integrated research platforms, each building on the last to create a complete medicines manufacturing innovation ecosystem.
PLATFORM 1
Learn
Cyber-physical research infrastructure linking material properties, processes and product attributes.
PLATFORM 2
Model
Real-time digital twin of end-to-end CMC processes, optimising quality and sustainability.
PLATFORM 3
Make
Integrated end-to-end manufacturing test bed validating quality, sustainability and resilience.
PLATFORM 4
Adapt
A collaborative Living Lab for developing, testing and scaling medicines manufacturing.
PLATFORM 5
Lead
Leading Industry 5.0 and digital transformation in medicines manufacturing.
PLATFORM 4: ADAPT
The MediForge Living Lab
The Living Lab is not a building or a piece of software. It is an open, collaborative ecosystem of people, processes, technologies and engagement activities — built to test and adopt human-centric, sustainable and resilient approaches to medicines manufacturing.
Progress so far:
Crystallisation Screening CMC DataFactory
Augmented reality demonstrator live, linking physical lab operations with real-time data visualisation.
Industry 5.0 Skills Programme
Onboarding, CPD and training delivered through CMAC SkillsFactory — embedding digital and sustainability skills across the hub.
AI Virtual Lab Assistant
Prototype assistant providing researchers with intelligent access to knowledge, workflows and QBDD decision structures.
Tableting CMC DataFactory XR
Updated augmented reality demonstrator giving users immersive access to tableting process data and environments.
Researcher Community
Active peer network for knowledge exchange, cross-platform collaboration and researcher voice within the MediForge hub.
Industry 5.0 Baseline
Evidence-based assessment of MediForge's current and future-state maturity across human-centricity, sustainability and resilience dimensions.
INDUSTRY EXCHANGE PROGRAMME
Monthly sessions where industry challenges become research priorities
The MediForge Industry Exchange brings together researchers and invited pharmaceutical industry partners each month for themed knowledge exchange, challenge-led workshops and collaborative innovation. Open to MediForge industry partners only.
Upcoming sessions
Sept
19 Oct
Nov
Exchange #3 · Online
Title TBC
10:00–12:30
Exchange #4 · Online
Connecting Synthesis Development to Manufacturing, Digital Workflows from DataFactory to Test Bed.
14:00–15:30
Exchange #5 · Online
Title TBC
Time TBC
"The Exchange format is genuinely different — it's not a conference presentation, it's a working session. We've brought real challenges and left with real ideas."
Industry partner, MediForge Exchange Programme
Previous themes
Industry 5.0 principles | Digital twin adoption | Workforce skills | Regulatory innovation | Continuous manufacturing
RESEARCH STORIES
The people behind the programme
Across five platforms and five partner universities, MediForge is a community of researchers, engineers and industry collaborators working on some of the most pressing challenges in medicines manufacturing.
RESEARCHER STORY · PLATFORM 4
"We built the AI assistant with researchers, not for them — that changes everything"
How a PhD student in human-computer interaction is shaping the way MediForge researchers access knowledge and make decisions at the bench.
INDUSTRY COLLABORATION · ASTRAZENECA
From challenge to capability: how an industry problem became a MediForge research priority
A case study demonstrating how the Industry Exchange Programme translates real manufacturing challenges into targeted, collaborative research.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT - GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
Inside the XR lab: designing immersive experiences for the factory of the future
The collaboration between CMAC and The Glasgow School of Art that brought human-centred design thinking into pharmaceutical manufacturing research.
GET INVOLVED
Join us.
Industry
Collaborate with leading researchers to develop, test and accelerate the adoption of next-generation medicines manufacturing technologies.
> Explore partnership opportunities
Academia
Join a multidisciplinary research network tackling the challenges in digital, sustainable and human-centric medicines manufacturing.
> Join the Researcher Community
Policy and regulators
Gain insight into emerging technologies and help shape future policy and regulatory approaches for medicines manufacturing.
Public and schools
Discover what medicines manufacturing looks like in the 21st century - through science festivals, school visits and interactive experiences.
> Find upcoming public events
> Explore our STEM resources
Latest news
FUNDERS AND PARTNERS
A programme built on collaboration.
MediForge is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a division of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through its Manufacturing Hubs for a Sustainable Future Call 2.
It has been co-created in collaboration with partners at Glasgow School of Art, Imperial College London, University of Leeds, University of Sheffield and the University of Strathclyde. It is also supported by a global consortium of industry partners including Applied Materials, AstraZeneca, Bruker, Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC), CPI, Chiesi, Clairet Scientific Ltd., DigiM, Lilly, M-Star Simulators, National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Siemens, Takeda, Technobis, UCB, and ULab.
