Next-Gen Supply Chain QuickFire Challenge
$ 75,000 grant
Winners
On April 12, 2017, Johnson & Johnson Innovation named the University of Texas at Austin as the winner of the Next Gen Supply Chain Quickfire Challenge. Leading researcher, Maria Croyle, received a grant of $75,000 and was recognized in front of industry peers for bringing forward a potential solution to key manufacturing and supply chain challenges that addresses the issues of cost and reliability in healthcare supply chains.
Croyle’s winning solution is a physical film that has been shown to protect vaccines at room temperature and may have the same effect on monoclonal antibodies, which could be of great benefit in pharmaceutical Supply Chain. This innovation potentially could eliminate the need for refrigeration of some APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) and finished products—allowing for easier, less costly storage and transportation, as well as easier delivery to patients in remote areas across the globe and emerging markets.
The Challenge
Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Janssen Supply Chain were looking for the best solutions to common manufacturing and supply chain challenges.
This challenge sought out innovative methods to:
- Stabilize protein formulations in liquid stage without refrigeration
- Increase cell output for MaBs with a range above 8g/L
- Protect proteins and peptides for oral absorption
Solutions have been evaluated based on the following criteria:
- High quality of foundation of technology feasibility
- Ease of ability to implement in a GMP environment
- Low cost and high reliability
- Commercial scalability/flexibility
- Short lead time to implementation