Biopharmaceutical Engineering
Biopharmaceuticals have become a cornerstone of modern medicine, offering treatments for complex diseases that were once considered untreatable. Although these miracle drugs contribute to significant gains in patients’ lifespan and quality of life, biopharmaceutical development and production are highly complex and costly.
Our research in biopharmaceutical engineering combines knowledge in biochemistry, biotechnology, engineering, and pharmaceutical sciences to deliver urgently needed innovations in biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing.
Our overarching goal is to rethink and reshape the development and production of biopharmaceuticals. We explore new scientific approaches and technologies that can improve the biopharmaceutical lifecycle at various stages – from early-stage development through large-scale manufacturing to post-production handling and administration to patients. By doing so, we strive to make biopharmaceuticals safer, more effective, and accessible to the public.
Research Topics
In the area of biopharmaceutical engineering, we focus on the development and production of new biotherapeutic modalities by harnessing the scientific advances in cell culture technology, single-use systems, and bioanalytical methods.
Biotherapeutic Development & Production

- ERC Project PicoBody – Development and production of antibacterial picobodies (Prof. Svilenov)
- Continuous separation processes (Prof. Minceva)
- Membrane absorbers for mAb and virus purification (Prof. Minceva)
Single-Use Technologies

3D printing for single-use systems in biopharmaceutical production:
Cell Culture and Tissue Engineering

- Advanced transfection methods for protein production in mammalian cells (Prof. Svilenov)
- Targeted and self-organized tissue engineering (Prof. Henkel)
Analytical Methods and Workflows
Video Insights
Live cell imaging
Observe mammalian cells during the production of recombinant proteins.
Infrastructure
Equipped with molecular biology and S1 cell culture labs for recombinant protein production at scales up to several liters.




