9. June 2020 | Press releases:

From Research to Science ZIM network for pharmaceutical production technology founded at TU Braunschweig

The demand for innovative and increasingly customized pharmaceuticals is growing continuously – not only in times of crisis. In order to be able to turn research results into products and processes in drug production more quickly, the Center of Pharmaceutical Engineering (PVZ) at the Technische Universität Braunschweig has now founded ProPharm, together with small and medium-sized companies. The network is being funded for an initial period of one year as part of the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM) of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi).

In the ZIM network ProPharm, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have joined forces with research partners from TU Braunschweig and Leibniz Universität Hannover. They want to develop creative solutions to optimize manufacturing processes of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and related fields and to accelerate the transfer of research results into applications. “Research and innovation are real challenges, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, when it comes to realizing ideas for new products and exploiting market opportunities. In the ProPharm network, the research partners can provide important impulses to transfer results from basic research into industrial application even faster and more consistently. In this way they support the companies in ProPharm in their development of new products, new services or in the improvement of production processes,” emphasises Professor Stephan Scholl, initiator and scientific director of ProPharm and member of the PVZ board.

The funding, which consists of two phases in total, supports the establishment and expansion of ProPharm as a networking platform. In the first phase (12 months), the network will receive 120,000 euros in funding, part of which will be provided by the participating companies. After successful approval of a subsequent two-year funding phase, the companies would bear an increasing share of the funding following an interim evaluation. Parallel to the establishment of the platform, cooperation projects in the ZIM programme and other funding formats can now be initiated jointly in the network. “The funding for ProPharm offers us ideal conditions for developing successful and long-term cooperation between science and industry”, says Dr. Gerlinde Benninger, Managing Director of the PVZ and co-initiator of ProPharm. “Since we focus not only on drug production but also on the production of cosmetics and related areas in the network, there are many contact points for joint innovation projects”.

A total of six companies and seven institutes of the TU Braunschweig and Leibniz Universität Hannover are involved in ProPharm. Further partners from industry are currently being sought in order to continually expand the network.

Partners of the ZIM network ProPharm

Small and medium-sized enterprises

  • Amino GmbH; Frellstedt
  • BSI Beauty Science Intelligence GmbH; Langenhagen
  • DEWA Engineering und Anlagenbau GmbH; Goslar
  • FLAVEX Naturxtrakte GmbH; Rehlingen
  • Martin Christ Gefriertrocknungsanlagen GmbH; Osterode am Harz
  • Wilk-Graphite GmbH; Lörrach

TU Braunschweig

  • Institut für Chemische und Thermische Verfahrenstechnik; Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Scholl, Prof. Dr. Julia Großeheilmann
  • Institute of Energy and Process Engineering; Prof. Dr.-Ing. Arno Kwade (provisional)
  • Institute for Particle Technology; Prof. Dr.-Ing. Arno Kwade, Prof. Dr.-Ing.
  • Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacy; Prof. Dr. Ingo Rustenbeck
  • Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology; Prof. Dr. Ludger Beerhues
  • Department of Pharmaceutics; Prof. Dr. Heike Bunjes

Leibniz University of Hannover

  • Institute for Multiphase Processes; Prof. Prof. h.c. Dr.-Ing. Birgit Glasmacher