Five connected platforms. One end-to-end system.
The data flows in one direction. The insight flows in all directions.
THE MEDIFORGE RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
P1 - Learn
Cyber-physical research infrastructure
P2 - Model
Digital twin
P3 - Make
P4 - Adapt
P5 - Lead
Global adoption
PLATFORM 3: MAKE
Integrated end-to-end manufacturing test bed
Promising process innovations often stall between lab-scale demonstration and industrial implementation. The scale-up gap is costly, time-consuming and frequently where sustainability gains are lost.
Platform 3 provides a compact, instrumented end-to-end manufacturing test bed where processes designed using Platforms 1 and 2 can be validated at a meaningful scale. It is designed to be resource-efficient and extensively monitored, generating the data needed to close the loop back to the digital twin.
PROGRESS SO FAR:
A major milestone has been the integration of multiple equipment platforms through a vendor-agnostic digital control and data infrastructure, enabling centralised process monitoring, real-time data capture and seamless PAT integration. The platform has been designed to be rapidly reconfigured, allowing different manufacturing routes and unit operations to be connected and evaluated with minimal downtime.
The test bed has already been successfully demonstrated through the continuous manufacture of paracetamol, providing end-to-end integration from chemical synthesis through to solid isolation. Using a combination of design of experiments and Bayesian optimisation, the team rapidly identified improved operating conditions while maintaining high product quality and industrially relevant throughput.
To date, this work has established a strong foundation for future MediForge activities, including:
Advanced process optimisation and control
Autonomous experimentation
Digital twin development
Rapid evaluation of new drug substance manufacturing routes
Model-based manufacturing workflows
PLATFORM 4: ADAPT
The MediForge Living Lab
Industry 5.0 principles — human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience are well-understood in theory. Translating them into the day-to-day practice of pharmaceutical manufacturing research requires a different kind of environment: one built for co-creation, not just observation.
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 TO 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.