CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABLE PHARMACEUTICAL ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING
A world prepared to deliver personalised care to patients in a fast, lean and flexible way.
Our mission; to be the Centre of Excellence in Europe for end-to-end integrated pharmaceutical manufacturability of tomorrowโs medicines enabling sustainable innovation in drug substance and drug product production

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Focus areas
The Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Pharmaceutical Engineering & Manufacturing (CESPE) is a multidisciplinary innovation accelerator focusing on the sustainable development, design and optimisation of drug substance and drug product production platforms.
Its core labs and offices are located at Ghent University:
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Faculty of Bioscience Engineering
- Faculty of Engineering and Architecture
- Faculty of Sciences
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Through integration of expertise from a variety of research groups, CESPE aims at providing emerging production technologies to manufacture the medicines of the future in a sustainable and agile way.
Core focus areas within CESPE are value chain driven:
- Chemical, biological and ATMP process and production technology (drug substance)
- Pharmaceutical process and production technology (drug product)
Crosscutting focus areas, enabling the integration of core areas:
- Data sciences, modelling and control
- Analytical technology and characterization
- Sustainable systems engineering and design
- Machineries, automation and factory logistics

Strategic activities

Connect
Connect and inform stakeholders through community building

Talent & Skills
Talent ready to tackle challenges within an industry in transition

Innovate
Transformation toward the pharmaceutical industry of tomorrow through technology innovation

Validate
Plug & play GMP-like open innovation lab and testing facility
