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This module will act as an introductory course to Biochemical Engineering, outlining the fundamental principles and industrial applications of the discipline. It provides a brief overview of whole bioprocesses including principles of fermentation, scale-up and downstream processing, using real world scenarios. Applications covered include biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, ATMPs, as well as novel foods (e.g. cultivated meat, fermentation-based products). The relationships between relative timescales of manufacturing, clinical phases and drug discovery (for biopharmaceuticals), distribution, delivery and marketing for different products will be discussed. Global implications of the emergence of new diseases are discussed along with the role of biotechnologists and biochemical engineers in combating them. Global regulations, health economics and ethics are also topics covered. Challenges such as cost of research and development, supply of raw materials, plant capacity and adaptability, rapid clinical development, patent restrictions versus shared information, and the impact of global distribution are also studied.

Upon completion of the course, a student should be able to:

• Gain a fundamental understanding of the breath of biochemical engineering.
• Familiarise with biological systems.
• Familiarise with principles of bioreactor operation and scale-up.
• Understand the core unit operations in a bioprocess.
• Be competent in the use of unit conversions and other relevant numerical methods.
• Understand the principles of mass balances and be able to apply them to real life chemical and biochemical engineering problems.