NIIMBL Shapes the Future of the Biopharma Workforce

The demand for biopharmaceutical products is on the rise. It is expected that within 10 years, up to 50% of all drugs in development will be biopharmaceutical. Which means the demand for skilled and unskilled labor to create, manufacture and market these drugs is also on the rise.

In Delaware, NIIMBL (the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals) is working to fill the pipeline with potential workers through its planned SABRE Center as well as the eXperience and bioLOGIC programs.

The biopharmaceutical industry is expected to grow by 9% in the next seven to 10 years — faster than the average predicted for all other occupations, according to Learn.org. Getting more people thinking about the many options in biotechnical careers is key to keeping up. NIIMBL is helping start that process early with the bioLOGIC program in high school. This past year, the Charter School of Wilmington piloted the program with 67 students who signed up for after-school learning.

Students studied in class, met with industry representatives and had opportunities to visit college campuses. They used their knowledge to create hypothetical solutions to real problems, like ALS and Graves’ disease— an immune disorder that results in overproduction of thyroid hormones —and pitched their ideas for cures and businesses to a scientific panel.

The idea is to expose students to the industry and familiarize them with entrepreneurship, says Jennifer Mantle, NIIMBL’s regulatory committee coordinator.

Students were inspired by the program, says Michael Valenti, their faculty advisor at Charter. “Our students are exceptionally motivated and I’m excited to see their pitches. Also, I would certainly do this program again. It seems to approach scientific problems in an innovative way.”

Plans to expand the program to more schools and especially to underrepresented populations in the science fields are underway, says Mantle.

Diversifying the Talent Pipeline
Students in their first or second year at a university or community college can qualify for the NIIMBL eXperience program, an all-expenses-paid biopharmaceutical manufacturing immersion program. Specifically designed for Black, Latinx and Indigenous students, the program strives to diversify the school-to-industry pipeline for the bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

Participating eXperience students visit biopharma companies, tour manufacturing facilities and receive hands-on training with state-of-the-art equipment. They are also introduced to different organizations and career options in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

A student could become a scientist, a researcher, a technician, an engineer. There are many different paths to follow, says Kathie Young, workforce committee coordinator and workforce project manager for NIIMBL. The eXperience program was designed to show different options at a time in the student’s career when he or she could more easily pivot into a new direction, she says.

“There are jobs out there for every-body,” says Young. “You don’t have to have a Ph.D. to get into this.”

Where could these students work if they choose to enter the biopharma field? NIIMBL is working on another venue for that as well.

The SABRE (Securing AmericanBio-Manufacturing Research and Education) Center is planned to be a state-of-the-art facility that allows NIIMBL to “scale up and de-risk manufacturing innovations and to help train and prepare a robust biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce,” says Alok Patel, assistant director of business development and strategic initiatives for NIIMBL. “We are still in the early stages of developing this exciting project and anticipate it will be over 60,000 square feet.”

The facility will be located on the University of Delaware STAR Campus, next door to the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center, where NIIMBL is currently located. Putting all these pieces into place, says Patel, could be “absolutely game-changing.”