Reducing lead times of new medicinal drugs to the market by reducing process development and clinical testing timeframes is a critical driver in increasing European (bio)pharmaceutical industry competitiveness. Despite new therapeutic principles (e.g. the use of pluripotent stem cells, regenerative medicine and treatments based on personalised medicine or biosimilars) or regulatory initiatives to enable more efficient production, such as Quality by design (QbD) with associated Process Analytical Technology (PAT) tools , the slow progress in the development of new bioactive compounds still limits the availability of cheap and effective medicines. In addition, the competitiveness of European (bio)pharma industry is impacted by the unavailability of suitably trained personnel. Fundamental changes in the education of scientists have to be realised to address the need for changes in the traditional ‘big pharma’ business model and the focus on ‘translational medicine – more early stage clinical trials with patients, more external innovation and more collaboration’ . These changes in education should be based on combining cutting-edge science from the early stage of product development through to manufacturing with innovation and entrepreneurship as an integral part of the training. The Rapid Bioprocess Development ITN, employing 15 ESRs, brings together industrialist and academic experts with its main aim to address this critical need by developing an effective training framework in rapid development of novel bioactive molecules from the very early stages of potency and efficacy testing to the biomanufacturing process characterisation and effective monitoring. The main focus of the research is on oncology related proteins and recombinant proteins to be used in diabetes treatment, although the resulting monitoring and modelling methods will be applicable to other bioactive molecule process development as demonstrated by validation on a range of relevant bioactives.

Soil-borne plant-parasitic nematodes are a biosecurity risk for global food production with an estimated annual loss of €110 billion worldwide. Root-knot nematodes (RKN) and potato cyst nematodes (PCN) rank 1 and 2 in the Top 10 of high-impact plant-parasitic nematodes with RKN alone accounting for ~5% of global crop losses. RKN and PCN are A2 quarantine pests or emerging species listed on the EPPO Alert List. The two PCN species are also included in EU Commission implementing regulation 2021/2285. Recent reports document the emergence of new RKN and PCN problems in tomato and potato cropping across Europe and beyond due to two independent drivers: global warming and genetic selection. For decades, non-specific, environmentally harmful agrochemicals have been applied to manage RKN and PCN. The increasing awareness about their negative impact prompted the phasing out of most nematicides. Consequently, there is an urgent need for novel, durable control strategies that enable adequate responses by stakeholders to prevent crop losses in the EU and beyond. NEM-EMERGE will provide a spectrum of sustainable, science-based solutions for both the conventional and organic farming sector based on the principles of IPM, including (1) optimized crop rotations schemes including cover crops, (2) tailored host plant resistances, and (3) optimal use of the native antagonistic potential of soils. Moreover, monitoring and risk assessment tools will be generated to support Plant Health Authorities in decision and policy making. To ensure the adoption and implementation of NEM-EMERGE tools in the sector, a bottom-up co-creation process and multi-actor approach will be used based on stakeholder demands from both the conventional and organic sector. This makes NEM-EMERGE a key driver for the transition to sustainable farming in line with the Farm to Fork Strategy thereby contributing to the challenging targets set by the Green Deal.

The application of enzymes in industrial processes is increasingly important to achieve the EU’s sustainability goals and strengthen the bioeconomy, replacing oil-based chemistry. However, enzymes still find hurdles for their industrial application: low success rates of discovery and engineering; tedious and expensive methods to explore diversity; and limited activity/stability in the final application. RADICALZ assembles an interdisciplinary and intersectoral consortium to deliver faster, more versatile and more affordable tools for enzyme discovery and engineering, enabling the development of novel enzymes, new formulations and ingredients for more environment-friendly and healthier consumer products. This project will: i) develop new droplet microfluidic tools to find suitable enzymes for consumer products; ii) develop user-friendly software solutions based on machine learning (ML) for faster and more accurate enzyme engineering; iii) develop novel enzymes and bio-based, bio-catalytically synthesized ingredients for consumer products (glycosides, wash-enhancing enzymes, bio-based thickeners, natural antioxidants and fragrances); iv) develop bio-based, condition-responsive capsules for the protection and triggered release of enzymes and ingredients in the formulation of consumer products. RADICALZ will reduce the average time for enzyme discovery and evolution to <4 weeks, access 10 bio-based ingredients to replace oil-based chemistry, reducing the environmental impact –supported in depth in ≥3 cases– across 3 different types of consumer products. RADICALZ assembles 6 leading European companies and 6 pioneer academic teams expert in enzyme discovery and evolution, biocatalysis, chemical engineering, microbiology, soft-matter physics and microfluidics. The planned activities span 48 months and 7 work packages. The project is estimated at ca. 6 M€ (42% allocated to industrial partners and 64% of the total dedicated to creating highly-qualified jobs).

European dairy industry is an important agri-food sector; it represents more than 300,000 jobs and 10 billion € positive trade balance. Five out of the ten top global dairy companies are European and more than 80% of European companies are SMEs. More than 300 cheeses and dairy products are sold all over the world and are protected as geographical indications or traditional specialties. Mastering cheese-ripening processes to avoid sanitary risk and waste, and produce typical cheeses with organoleptic properties valued by the consumers is of economic and social significance. E-MUSE aims to develop innovative modelling methodologies to improve knowledge about complex biological systems and to control and/or predict their evolution by combining artificial intelligence and systems biology. This multidisciplinary strategy integrating genome-scale metabolic models, dynamic modelling methodologies, together with the design of efficient statistical and machine learning tools, will allow analysing of multi-omics data and linking the results to macro-scale properties related to cheese ripening and consumer preference. Bioinformatics has addressed this issue by data mining; however, a gap still exists between the molecular scale information and the macroscopic properties that E-MUSE will contribute to fill. Moreover, in the context of sustainable development, more and more consumers are diversifying their diet and consume plant-based food. Introduction of plant-based proteins in the cheese process brings issues such as bitterness or safety. Modelling strategies from the E-MUSE project will help to target and solve these issues. Finally, E-MUSE will train researchers with multidisciplinary skills in mathematics, bioinformatics and/or biology to design and use innovative multiscale modelling methodologies, with the ultimate outcome of a dynamic modelling software giving researchers a harmonised language to address future research questions about complex biological systems.

BestTreat fosters education of ESRs in a project to uncover microbiome signatures for risk prediction and monitoring of NAFLD and to contribute to the development of therapeutic treatments based on metabolically beneficial microbial consortia. It trains 15 ESRs at world-leading academic institutions and companies, thus forming strong interdisciplinary links between industry, life and medical sciences, and end-users. BestTreat aims to train a new generation of highly qualified ESRs with entrepreneurial competencies in modern Life Sciences through state-of-the-art research projects. The projects focus on the identification and functional characterization of microbial consortia that contribute to metabolic control, and the application of this knowledge to develop novel leads for drug discovery and therapies for NAFLD. The new field on microbiome based therapeutics requires highly skilled scientists with interdisciplinary knowledge on medicine, systems biology and computer science, as well as hands-on experience with several types of tissue samples and model organisms that can optimally translate their research findings into sustainable improvements in clinical practice. BestTreat overcomes current barriers by establishing a strong, multidisciplinary and inter-sectoral training network, developing technologies tailored to solve key questions in human metabolism, microbiology and bioinformatics. The BestTreat programme will exploit recent developments in high-throughput and genome-wide screening technologies, combine these with modern molecular cell biology and systems biology approaches and ultimately translate the data into new leads for the discovery of live biotherapeutics. This specific cross-disciplinary training program will educate young scientists to the next level needed to advance this research field for the upcoming decennium. The training programme will be complemented with a complete set of transferable skills.