Lab 4.0 project kicks off

Phenotypeca, the baker’s yeast biofoundry, has announced that it has brought together a consortium of experts in the implementation of Lab 4.0 approach. The aim is to deliver a prototype that increases the number of commercial studies that can be onboarded by March 2023, and a full production platform by March 2024 at its facility in BioCity, Nottingham.
To lead this project, Phenotypeca engaged some of the experts in laboratory software, cloud and AI, as well as equipment and software automation, integration and facility design for life sciences. Together, the senior directors and engineers from Phenotypeca, Synthace, Bryden Wood and a major cloud and AI software provider have begun to collaborate on the design, development and implementation of Phenotypeca’s Lab 4.0.  This project builds on successful approaches each of the member companies have used previously as well as the effective principles and structure of established Industry 4.0 projects.
By integrating the best of automation, robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and Phenotypeca’s know-how, the Lab 4.0 design will dramatically increase the number of PhenoStart studies that are currently possible using standard lab equipment and manual techniques. The consortium is developing a virtual Lab 4.0 model in silico to significantly reduce the time and cost of detailed design of the physical lab, so that the March 2024 production lab 4.0 operational date can be realised.
Keith Williams, co-founder and managing director of Phenotypeca says: “With the collective insight, vision, expertise and experience of the consortium members, we aim to significantly change the capabilities of our baker’s yeast platform to be faster, scalable and able to generate significant additional intellectual property (IP) for the business. Applying the Lab 4.0 approach will significantly increase our output, enabling our customers to have industrial strains that reduce the cost of goods of medicines and hopefully reduce the regulatory approval timelines. Our ultimate goal for our company, and the aim of this project, is that by using Lab 4.0 principles, we can achieve 10 science years output per calendar year from every one of our highly skilled scientists. This is the latest initiative in our mission to make life life-saving medicines more accessible and affordable to all that need them.”

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