RESEARCH AREAS



The main objective of the projects that we undertake is to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing process. The current research plans involve a continuation of Prof. Rathore's past work and focusses on solving problems faced in the manufacturing of human therapeutic biotech drugs. The complexities associated with manufacturing of biotech drugs demand that this be done in collaboration with other experts in the institute, outside the institute and within the biotech industry along with the domestic and international regulatory agencies.



Continuous Processing



Manufacturing of biotherapeutic products is a key component of the “Make in India” campaign. Continuous processing promises a 10-15 X increase in productivity and a 50-75% reduction in cost of manufacturing of biotherapeutics. CBT already has ready-for-licensing continuous platforms for production in both microbial and mammalian platforms. We are currently engaged in licensing these platforms to the biopharma industry.



Analytical & Functional Characterization of Biosimilars



CBT has the required infrastructure, expertise, and experience to perform detailed analytical and functional characterization of biosimilars. We have already published exhaustive comparability exercises of Neupogen, Rituximab and Herceptin biosimilars that exist in Indian markets. We have recently patented FTIR based fingerprinting to eliminate counterfeiting of biotherapeutics.



Pharmacoeconomics



Affordability and accessibility of biotherapeutics continues to be a concern for Indians and most of the world. One of the focus areas for CBT is to identify and study factors that drive pricing of a biotherapeutic product and thereby create strategies for making these products affordable. We think this information would be of great interest to the policymakers as well as those engaged in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) Committee.



Data Analytics



CBT is harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for healthcare applications. Ongoing projects include Early detection of pancreatic cancer from MRI using deep learning, Acute decompensated heart failure prediction using AI/ML, Medical image analysis using deep learning, and Multivariate data analysis using AI/ML. We think that apps driven by such AI/ ML models would be commonly used by the physicians in the near future.



Process Modeling and Control



Automation and digitization of biopharmaceutical processing is a key mandate for CBT. Together with our industry partners we are working towards development of a control system network architecture using distributed control system that enables real time process monitoring and control. Mechanistic models of the unit operations, digitization of the process and analytical data, real time process monitoring, and model-based control are the required elements.



COVID-19



CBT is engaged in multiple COVID-19 projects including diagnostics, vaccines, biotherapeutics as well as epidemiological studies of the COVID 19 data.



Bioseparations and Bioprocessing Laboratory




© 2021 Prof. Anurag S. Rathore

IIT Delhi-India

Telephone: +91 9650770650, +91 11 26591098