Waters Corp. and the University of Delaware entered a five-year research partnership to develop new analytical solutions for bioprocessing and biomanufacturing. This partnership will leverage Immerse Delaware, an Innovation and Research Lab, set to open in early 2022 located at the University of Delaware Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) campus. At Immerse Delaware, Waters will partner with students and faculty to identify and address the most significant challenges facing the biopharmaceutical industry.
 
The optimization of the manufacturing process of complex medicines such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), cell and gene therapies and vaccines, has been limited by the lack of robust analytical methods. Waters is partnering with University of Delaware because of its leadership in chemical and biological manufacturing research as well its active support and close proximity to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), a collaborative effort amongst industry, academia, and regulators.
 
The Immerse Delaware Lab will feature a purpose-built research test bed, with a focus on leveraging LC-MS and adjacent technologies to support bioprocess engineers’ empirical data in the areas of process and informatics. Initial projects will seek to gain a deeper understanding of novel schemes to quantify and ultimately minimize process-related impurities from uncontrolled glycosylation, which negatively impacts drug efficacy. These will be paired with informatic solutions to predict the evolution of biotherapeutic products.
 
“We strongly believe that the most difficult challenges can only be solved through collaboration across academia and industry. Immerse Delaware follows from our highly successful launch of Immerse Cambridge, A Waters Innovation and Research Lab,” said Dr. Udit Batra, CEO and President of Waters Corporation. “Through this collaboration, researchers from both Waters and University of Delaware will identify and develop solutions that can better characterize biological manufacturing processes and drive improvements in quality, yields, efficiency and process control. Our partnership eventually aspires to decouple the product from the process, which can significantly accelerate the delivery of higher quality medicines to patients.”
 
“We are thrilled that an industry-leading innovator like Waters Corporation and the University of Delaware are forming this collaborative partnership to advance novel solutions to biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing,” said Dr. Dennis Assanis, President, University of Delaware. “This is a true testimony to UD’s recognition as a national hub for innovation and talent development that feeds cutting edge progress across industries — including engineering, biopharmaceuticals, life sciences, and so much more. The Waters-UD groundbreaking initiative will help accelerate development of life-saving medicines, while simultaneously developing the workforce of the future.”

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