Building Biomanufacturing: How the iFAB Hub Advances Innovation and Infrastructure
Feb. 11, 2025—Industry faces a range of challenges in the research landscape, including talent gaps, shifting markets, and budget constraints. However, one critical hurdle often gets overlooked: infrastructure. A public-private coalition in Illinois has taken a unique approach that has earned it a U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) Tech Hub designation, which will help the partners continue developing the region into a bioprocessing powerhouse.
Building capacity
In the heart of the U.S. Midwest, Illinois is a leading producer of soybeans and corn and is home to over 71,000 farms. To capitalize on this agricultural base, UIDP member University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has added significant bioprocessing resources and facilities. The university’s Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL) is a product research and development facility dating back almost 20 years. IBRL’s collaborations with company partners on precision fermentation led staffers to identify a production bottleneck: a lack of fermentation infrastructure. Very early-stage research in the lab and large-scale manufacturing were well funded, but pilot- and demonstration-scale infrastructure was lacking. Meanwhile, nearby companies Primient and Synonym were partnering to revitalize one of Primient’s idle fermentation facilities.
When the EDA announced its Tech Hubs program, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign seized the opportunity to leverage its long-term agriculture business relationships and R&D infrastructure to solve the issue. The university brought over 30 consortium members to the table to apply to EDA in support of a globally competitive fermentation hub in central Illinois, dubbed the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB). The project was awarded both designation and implementation funding and is working to support mid-scale infrastructure for the biomanufacturing industry through three separate projects at varying stages of process development.
Investment in innovation
The iFAB Hub seeks to create a thriving ecosystem that harnesses the power of public-private partnerships. Public co-investment was vital to ensuring projects could move forward. By securing Tech Hub designation and funding from the EDA, iFAB positioned itself to expand operations into a region-wide ecosystem where infrastructure, talent, and industry partners feed one another, enabling the system to become self-sustaining.
iFAB elevates collaboration over competition. Companies in the region that may otherwise operate independently are working together to strengthen and revitalize the industry as a whole. By addressing gaps in infrastructure and leveraging a diverse array of innovation ecosystem players in the region- universities, companies, economic development organizations, government agencies – iFAB is creating a model that will continue to grow and sustain itself, cementing the region as a leader in biomanufacturing. Beyond its focus on pilot plant expansion and scaling new facilities, the hub seeks to support workforce development by expanding student internship and educational programs and adding to a menu of biomanufacturing training courses. Doing so ensures that iFAB is positioned for continued growth and investment.
Why it matters
From addressing industry infrastructure needs to creating new opportunities to scale, iFAB has created a sustainable biomanufacturing ecosystem in central Illinois. By connecting many partners to solve a real-world need, the hub ensures that research, infrastructure, and industry needs are aligned, accelerating the translation of research into products and services.
What does iFAB’s success demonstrate? With a clearly identified need, a motivated set of partners, and a sense of urgency to accelerate the commercialization pathway, organizations can collaborate to achieve outcomes unattainable by working independently.
iFAB’s model aligns with the UIDP Strengthen and Modernize initiative by demonstrating that strategic, long-term partnerships can help drive change and enable solutions. If you have ideas for strengthening and modernizing U-I partnerships, please share your input.
We want to hear from you. Is your organization involved in any collaborations structured like iFAB? Let us know on LinkedIn.
