NXTGEN Hightech | Biomedical Production Technology

Background

The NXTGEN Hightech Biomedical Production Technology program seamlessly aligns with the strategy of the Dutch government to bring new, promising medical innovations from the lab environment to market, particularly those linked to Key Enabling Technologies capable of addressing societal issues. Specifically, the goal of ensuring that every Dutch citizen gains five additional healthy years by 2040 necessitates the realization of new types of biomedical technology. Additionally, there is a strong societal desire to significantly reduce the use of laboratory animals. While academic advancements exist, the production technologies are still lacking to create applications that would benefit society.

Project definition

Within the Biomed program, processes and equipment are developed involving the entire value chain. These developments are directly applied in the program to create tangible products, so that within 5 to 10 years, the Netherlands can become the leading country with a well-coordinated production chain capable of manufacturing the biomedical systems of the future. Specifically, this involves coordinating and harmonizing components such as chips, sensors, scaffolds, cells, bioactive compounds, etc.

Creating a high-quality prototyping environment for application development, developing methods and systems for both technological and biological qualification of applications, and finally, establishing a pilot production line for scaling up applications through integration and assembly of various product components (e.g., how can an optical chip with a bioactive coating be combined in a production line?).

The intense cooperation with high-tech companies, players with competences developed in the semiconductor industry, is a strong asset.

One program, five projects

Within the NXTGEN Hightech Biomed program five projects are defined each containing its own specific goal.

1 > One-stop-shop

In Biomed, the necessary common machines and processes have been identified and brought together in a separate ecosystem: the so-called One-Stop-Shop. This term refers to the ‘counter’ behind which the chain is aligned: end users thus have access to all multidisciplinary knowledge and coordinated technology in one (virtual) place. For this to be a success these tree elements need to be aligned in the value chain:

• producible and integrable biomedical building blocks
• development of the appropriate production machinery
• the right (shared) production processes
• the use of common standards and regulatory approvals.

2 > Lab-on-chip

This project involves the development of an infrastructure for equipment and processes in a high-volume production chain of lab-on-chip-based multi-analyte (Point-of-Care) diagnostic systems, including connected disposables, i.e., cartridges, test-specific (bio)sensor chips, and microfluidics for three biochip platforms with demonstration applications. The project will result in affordable production of high-tech Lab-on-Chip systems through highly scalable processes, similar to the semiconductor ecosystem. With its world-class technology in both semiconductor and Lab-on-Chip, the Netherlands strives to become a leader in Lab-on-Chip: the strong ecosystem involved in Semicon can be leveraged to produce reliable and modular Lab-on-Chip systems.

3 > Organ-on-chip

The (academic) expertise in the Netherlands in the field of Organ-on-Chip (OoC) is very high and consolidated within a strong network (human organ and Disease Modelling Technologies; hDMT). However, this knowledge is not (adequately) translated into products. The main reason for this is the lack of a production technology chain; a highly multidisciplinary chain that is required from suppliers of high-quality specialized components in both the technological and biological domains. Establishing this production chain collectively is necessary to ensure the next step towards mature production equipment.

Within the ‘Organ-on-chip’ project, chip developers, machine builders, process technologists, and biologists collaborate to set up this production chain by constructing three demonstrators.

4 > Artificial Organs

While medical technical research leads to many innovative solutions in the field of artificial organs, large-scale production of such applications is still lacking. The goal of this project is t to create an open technology platform for the production of next-generation systems to replace and support organ function(s). The core of this project is the development of mass-produceable micro- and nanotechnological building blocks in combination with advanced (bio)materials and cell-supporting techniques, as the basis for the production of technically-biological (hybrid) systems of the future. The scalable/mass-producible building blocks/modules that are developed will also be able to replace/support organ function(s) in the short term.

5 > Cell Production Technology

Cell culture plays a central role in the development of solutions for future health challenges. Cell therapy, for example, where cells are used as a medicine, is a new form of therapy for which high-quality cells need to be cultivated. The aim of this project is, therefore, the development of a next-generation high-tech equipment for cell culture applications. Through innovative sensor technology and integration via microfluidics, extensive control over the cell culture process is achieved. This will lead to high-quality cell and cell-derived products.

About NXTGEN Hightech

This project is made possible in part by a contribution from the National Growth Fund program NXTGEN Hightech. With over 330 partners, in more than 60 projects and in six essential domains, this program will make a significant contribution to the structural and sustainable economic growth in the Netherlands and offer solutions for the major societal challenges in the areas of energy transition, health, safety and food.

Including the contribution of € 450 million from the National Growth Fund, NXTGEN Hightech will invest approximately € 1 billion until 2030. In doing so, we will realize an internationally leading ecosystem for high-tech equipment in the Netherlands, which will rank among the top three in Europe at least and make an additional contribution to Dutch GNP of € 6 to 11 billion per year. We will develop a new generation of high-tech equipment for the future generation of Dutch people: our children.

For more information, also visit www.nxtgenhightech.nl