The aim of NanoPilot will be to set-up a flexible and adaptable pilot plant operating under GMP for the production of small batches of polymer-based nanopharmaceuticals, which exhibit significant potential in the field of drug-delivery particularly for the design of second-generation nanopharmaceuticals. Three different processes will be established for the production of three different nanopharmaceuticals selected on the basis of their TRL and positive commercial evaluation: a) topical treatment of ocular pain associated with dry eye syndrome containing short interfering RNA and lactic acid, b) A resuspendable HIV nanovaccine for intranasal vaccination containing 12 peptides in its formulation. c) Hyaluronan based hollow spheres intended for intravesical instillation, for the treatment of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome. State of the art production processes including micro reactors and highly advanced characterization techniques will ensure the quality of the nanodrugs. Existing laboratories suitable for large-scale production of biologics in compliance with GMP, and owned by the coordinator, will be adapted and certified within this project to enable the operability of the pilot plant. NanoPilot consists of nine complementary partners composed by 1 Industry and 2 academia developers of the nanosystems to scale-up. A research Institute expert in nanoparticle characterizacion and already operating in compliance with Good laboratory practices. An SME and an Industry that will develop ad-hoc continuous flow reactors for the optimization of two of the three processes. A consultancy (SME) expert in Quality system implementation and laboratory information management systems. A second consultancy (SME) in charge of the business plan, that will also help the coordinator in dissemination and exploitation activities. Finally, a research centre with a recorded track in nanomedicine, already operating under ISO 9001, and will be in charge of the pilot plant.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest and deadliest the world has ever seen. In September 2014, the number of EBOV cases exceeded the total of all cases from previous known outbreaks. Further, this public health crisis shifted into a complex emergency, with significant, social, economic, humanitarian, political and security dimensions. Till date, no effective medicine has been proven to be effective against EBOV. As a result, it is immensely difficult to mitigate the current outbreak as well as prevent further outbreaks in this region. On Sept 4-5 2014, the WHO gathered expertise on experimental therapies and vaccines and their role in containing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. During this consultation, experts identified several therapeutic and vaccine interventions that should be the focus of priority evaluation. Among these candidates is the existing antiviral drug Favipiravir, that has proven activity against many RNA viruses in vivo and in vitro including Ebola. Favipiravir is known to inhibit viral gene replication within infected cells to prevent propagation among which it inhibits viral gene replication within infected cells to prevent propagation. Hence, Favipiravir is currently aimed as a curative option in severe pandemic flue. Furthermore, there is currently enough stock of Favipiravir to even treat more than 20.000 patients, and the producer of Favipiravir, Toyoma Chemical/Fujifilm in Japan is willing to rapidly upscale the production of this drug. This drug has been extensively tested in humans and approved in Japan for treatment and prevention of influenza. The drug has shown an excellent safety profile in more than 2000 patients tested and no major adverse effect were reported. The current crisis requires both an immediate response to treat patients and prevent the further spread of the epidemic, as well as long term commitment in the complex sociocultural context. REACTION! will address both needs.

More and more industrial sectors are demanding high performance composite materials to face new challenges demanded by the transport sector. Carbon and glass fibre unidirectional continuous tape reinforced composites are one of the most promising options. It would be reasonable to expect that the manufacturing methods to obtain composite parts made of this hybrid material will be capable to tailor-made and optimize even more the advantageous properties given by the tapes nature. However, at the moment, these technologies are not mature enough for a full industrial implementation. Main existing barriers are related to the high consumption of resources, lower rates of automation, high production of defective and the subsequent growth of the manufacturing costs. FORTAPE aims to solve these drawbacks through the development of an efficient and optimized integrated system for the manufacturing of complex parts based on unidirectional fibre tapes for its application in the automotive and aeronautical industry, with the minimum use of materials and energy. To achieve this objective, three main routes for fibre impregnation will be researched to manufacture the unidirectional carbon and glass fibre tapes: novel heating up technologies, melted supercritical fluid-aided thermoplastic polymers and fluidized bed of powders. Novel combination of process-machine approaches will be applied in overmoulding and in-situ consolidation to manufacture the composite parts for the targeted sectors. Novel mathematical modelling and computational simulation concepts will be developed to support the structural optimization and the failure prevention and new instrumentation strategies for process control will be implemented for the selection of the best process. The FORTAPE consortium, led by CTAG, gathers 10 partners from 5 different European countries, and covers the whole value chain needed to develop new composite technologies with efficient use of materials and energy.

Catalytic reactors account for production of 90% of chemicals we use in everyday life. To achieve the decarbonisation of European economy and comply with the 20-20-20 target, resource utilization and energy efficiency will play a major role in all industrial processes. The concept of PRINTCR3DIT is to employ 3D printing to boost process intensification in the chemical industries by adapting reactors and structured catalysts to the requirements of the reaction. This manufacturing technique is particularly useful in reactions where diffusion, mixing and/or heat transfer are limitations against reaching higher performance. The utilization of the concept of 3D printing will also reduce the resource utilization of reactor and catalyst manufacture, energy consumed (< 15%) and transportation. The rationale of using 3D printing will follow a generic and systematic structure for implementation. The methodology will be applied to three markets of fine chemicals, specialty chemicals and fertilizers, ranging from few tons to millions of tons of production per year. This demonstrates the enormous versatility of 3D printing for reactor and catalyst designs that cannot be improved with traditional building and design tools. For all these processes, the challenges to be solved are thermal management, innovative reactor design and flow distribution. These examples will provide realistic data in different markets to delineate business case scenarios with the options of new integrated plants or retrofitting for large-scale applications. Application of cutting-edge 3D printing to catalytic reactors will foster higher productivity, a more competitive industrial sector and higher value jobs in Europe - keeping leadership in such a challenging arena. PRINTCR3DIT is a joint effort between world-leading industries (4), innovative SMEs (4), R&D institutes (4) and a university that aim to accelerate deployment of a set of products to the market.

The aim of LEVIS Project would be to develop a new manufacturing route able to fill the current industrial gap present in mass production automotive applications. By adopting an eco- and circular design concept from the design phase to the end-of-life stage, LEVIS project will develop, verify and demonstrate lightweight structural parts in electrical vehicles. Enhanced sustainability, improved raw material use-, energy- and cost efficiency, reduced weight yet high structural integrity and reliability are expected to be achieved. LEVIS envisages the use of multi-material solutions based on fibre reinforced thermoplast. LEVIS aims at the development of structural parts in automotive using thermoplastic based CFRP/metal hybrid materials integrated with SHM system in order to achieve a significant weight reduction while keeping the mechanical in-service performance of the targeted parts. For that, new sustainable materials, suitable manufacturing/assembly procedures, advanced simulation methodologies/workflows and innovative sensing/monitoring technologies will be developed, implemented and validated. Recyclable resins, bio-resourced CF and recycled CF will be developed and used for these parts for enhanced sustainability. The feasibility and scale-up capability of production of these lightweight materials and structural parts will be verified and demonstrated. A circular-design approach will be used for constructing the structural parts in order to maximise their service-life and enable easy, effective and efficient dismantling and reuse of the components (both CFRP- and metal-) in the parts as well as recovery of resins and fibres with sufficient quality for second-life use.