BIOFACTORY COMPETENCE CENTER BRIDGES BIOTECH AND PRODUCTION

At Bluefactory in Fribourg, the Biofactory Competence Center helps biotech partners transform promising research into robust, scalable and GMP-compatible bioprocesses.

«At Bluefactory, the Biofactory Competence Center brings process engineering, applied research and industry-oriented infrastructure together. This helps partners move from promising biotech concepts toward reproducible, scalable and GMP-compatible production processes.»

Philippe Jemmely

Director Bluefactory

In biotechnology, promising science is only the beginning. To reach patients, partners and markets, new biological products need robust processes, reproducible quality and a clear path from laboratory proof-of-concept to scalable production. This is where Fribourg's Biofactory Competence Center plays a practical role.

Based at Bluefactory and embedded in the School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg within HES-SO, the center supports academic and industrial partners across the bioprocess lifecycle. Its expertise spans upstream and downstream processing, process optimisation, GMP-compatible operations and scale-up - from cell culture and microbial production to purification, analytics and process characterisation. The team, largely composed of engineers with industry experience, works with start-ups, research institutions and established companies through research mandates and Innosuisse-backed projects.

Two collaborations show this role in practice. Since 2022, the center has supported Lausanne-based regenerative medicine start-up Regenosca on process optimisation, scale-up and manufacturing for preclinical activities. Regenosca is developing TissueSpan, an off-the-shelf regenerative implant for urethral stricture. With BCC's support, the production process has moved from one implant at a time toward batches of up to 30 implants, while a single-use mold was developed to support a future move toward clean-room production.

In phage therapy, the BCC contributes process-transfer and optimisation expertise to a field where manufacturing quality is critical. CHUV holds a unique Swissmedic authorisation to produce therapeutic phages under GMP conditions, while collaboration with BCC supports the optimisation and transfer of production and purification processes for future clinical use. Located at the crossroads of Western Switzerland, the Biofactory Competence Center offers short distances, technical know-how and frequent exchange - helping promising science advance toward production-ready application.

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