Advanced Mammalian Biomanufacturing Innovation Center (AMBIC) Information

Over the past two decades, the biopharmaceutical industry has emerged as one of the major manufacturing industries and engines of growth in the US economy. Biomanufacturing represents nearly 2% of the total US GDP and its fraction is expanding. Much of biomanufacturing involves the use of cells to make medicines. Examples of these types of medicines include cancer medicines and vaccines. A key element in developing these medicines is the need to establish complex manufacturing processes. AMBIC will implement engineering innovations to enhance the capabilities of our nation to manufacture these important life-extending and life-saving medicines. Such improvements will improve the competitiveness of US biomanufacturing in coming decades leading to more economic investment by these companies and more jobs for American workers. The mission of AMBIC is to develop enabling technologies, knowledge, design tools and methods that apply and integrate high-throughput and genome-based technologies to fast-track advanced biomanufacturing processes. AMBIC is the first I/UCRC dedicated to mammalian cell culture upstream development focusing on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, the principal biopharmaceutical production host of industry. AMBIC will bring together leading academic and industrial biotechnologists focused on mammalian cell culture manufacturing at a pre-competitive research level to address the complex problems in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.