IChemE’s COVID-19 Response Team develops new workstreams to help reduce the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is the global professional membership organisation for chemical, biochemical and process engineers and other professionals involved in the chemical, process and bioprocess industries.
Recognising the wealth of professional engineering expertise held by members of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) in critical sectors, the Institution’s COVID-19 Response Team, currently involving over 80 volunteers from across the world, has identified a number of key workstreams to support the global response. The workstreams reflect areas of chemical engineering expertise in the manufacture of small molecules, vaccines and biological medicines as well as extending to cover diagnostics and hospital service requirements including medical gases and personal protective equipment (PPE).
The team’s strategy is to build networks of volunteers in a structured hub that can mobilise assistance to address both current and future technical gaps in the COVID-19 response action plan. By pooling IChemE’s global resources, the team will be able to respond quickly to calls for assistance from any international governmental and/or healthcare organisation and will be able to offer advice and support, independent of commercial interests.
IChemE member, Julia Gordon, who has been selected as the team’s project manager, said:
“As a member-led Institution, it is a key part of our engineers’ professional responsibility to use our skills and expertise for the benefit of society; this has never been more important than today in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. We are aiming to provide technical help in any way we can. It is vital that we act proactively to provide support in this area and respond quickly to rapidly unfolding events. I’d like to thank all our volunteers for their service.”
The workstreams identified by the IChemE COVID-19 Response Team for action are as follows:
Diagnostics: test methodology, manufacturing, and roll out
Vaccines/Bioprocess/API
Vaccines/Bioprocess/Drug product including fill finish
Antibody therapeutics and proteins
Small molecules therapeutics
Hospital services and medical supplies (HSMS)
International liaison – global collaboration hub to share learning
Communications
It is envisaged that each workstream will identify the optimum solution to deliver its product or service including a pathway to scaled-up production as well as supply chain logistics where relevant.
The team has already established links with the BioIndustry Association (BIA) and has begun to assist with identifying capacity for bio-manufacturing and diagnostics together with our partners at the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE).
If you are able to further support the ongoing COVID-19 response within the healthcare and life science sectors, please add your details and capabilities to the ISPE Skill and Capabilities database.
If you are looking for a partner or resource in this sector please visit the searchable version of the database. To contact people on the database please include covid-response@ispeuk.org in an email response as well as covid@icheme.org.
If you or your organisation has a request for engineering support or you are able to volunteer to be part of this project, please contact the IChemE COVID-19 Response Team via covid@icheme.org. The team is most in need of volunteers with experience in therapeutic antibodies, small molecule therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines/drug product manufacturing experience including fill/finish.
For more information, please visit IChemE’s Coronavirus Information Hub.
Contact
For more information please contact:
Lucy Cook, Communications Manager, IChemE
t: +44 (0) 1788 534454
e: lcook@icheme.org