Using modular construction to improve medicines access: The PodTech™ story

“During Covid, we needed to manufacture new vaccines, based on a new immunisation approach, at very large scales and an unprecedented rate. Modular systems were a lifesaver. Pfizer installed some 13,000 square feet of modular rooms to rapidly scale up their capacity. With this upgrade, the Pfizer-BioNTech partnership went from producing 3-4 million vaccine doses weekly to 13 million doses weekly.

If we can do this for Covid, we can do it for the many outbreaks that occur in Africa, South America or anywhere else in the world. We have the technology for it; we just need to get busier putting it to good use.”

— Aasif Ahsan Khan, Founder, PodTech™ Lifecare

25 years ago, Fabtech Technologies was founded. As an engineering company, Fabtech has delivered turnkey solutions for pharma, biotech and healthcare companies around the world. With projects commissioned in 62 countries, Fabtech’s regional offices span the Middle East, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the UK. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Fabtech has become a global name in the engineering and biopharma worlds.

But we aren’t ones to rest on our laurels.

This global success exposed Fabtech’s founder and teams to global challenges. From the very beginning, the mission was to make medicines affordable and accessible in every corner of the world. However, this mission was hampered by the dearth of infrastructure in some regions, making setting up local production extremely challenging.

That’s where the idea for PodTech™ was seeded.

The birth of PodTech™ and its podule™ technology

In 2022, the founder of Fabtech also became the founder of PodTech™.

Our vision with PodTech™ is to offer fast, flexible and scalable solutions for biopharma capability building, especially in regions that need to build up their healthcare infrastructure quickly.

PodTech™ builds podules™, which are pre-fabricated, self-contained factory units which are manufactured off-site and then shipped to the desired location, where they are simply assembled.

When there’s a public health emergency somewhere, or a country has been dealing with a massive burden of a particular disease, podules™ can be deployed there fairly quickly. They can be designed to manufacture diagnostics, medicines, vaccines, or gene therapies. Podules™ can also be used as labs for testing, for patient recovery – pretty much any cleanroom application you can think of.

Speed, economy and flexibility: The defining features of podules™

With a mission as ambitious as ours, we were certain that agility was of the essence. Hence, our podules™ are designed keeping in mind the context of resource-scarce settings.

🕖 The savings on time are quite significant with PodTech™’s podules™. If you, as a pharma manufacturer, want to set up a traditional factory system, you might easily take a few years to get the whole thing built and operational. We’ve found that comparatively, podules™ take about half as much time to get up and running. The podules™ are also pre-validated before we ship them, so you don’t need to delay operations waiting to meet regulatory requirements.

💸 On the financial front, too, you could save a lot by deploying podules™ instead of traditional construction. A traditional setup needs extensive on-site construction – this takes a lot of time, a lot of manpower, and you will likely have to press pause on any existing operations at your site. On the other hand, podules™ are manufactured entirely off-site, at our facility in the UAE. At your project site, we only assemble the “plug and play” pods and connect them to basic utilities. The relatively simple assembly process doesn’t require that you stop ongoing operations. And the podules™ are also self-supporting, which means that they don’t need structural support from any existing buildings. On the whole, this leads to major cost savings.

🧘🏽‍♀️ Flexibility is also a defining feature of our podules™. The podules™ are modular, so you can just add on extra podules™ to ramp up production capacity when needed. Some smaller factory systems can be mounted on a plinth and wheels and be relocated. This is particularly useful for pharma companies in underdeveloped pharma markets that face market fluctuations, especially during public health emergencies.

This same flexibility and scalability also ensure that our podules™ can be used to manufacture a diverse portfolio of products. Oncology drugs, inhalation therapies, APIs, fill and finish – you name it and PodTech™ can help you make it.

Creating self-sufficient economies through biopharmaceutical capability building

One of the biggest reasons holding some regions back in the biopharma market is the lack of infrastructure and technological capability. These regions rely largely on imports for their drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, which is a recipe for dependence and volatility. We saw this during the Covid-19 pandemic – pharma manufacturing powerhouses shut their borders or limited exports. What are countries without local production capabilities to do in such situations?

Achieving self-sufficiency in biopharma manufacturing is the only way to ensure healthcare security in your country or region.

One, it will give you a say in the supply of medicines, vaccines, etc. that your population needs – you don’t have to shell out large amounts of money to import essential health products or be at the mercy of countries from where you procure these essentials. Two, you get to strengthen your economy by creating jobs, improving public health outcomes, and participating more actively in the global pharma market by exporting the products you make.

Nevertheless, biopharmaceutical capability building is about more than just physical infrastructure. It is about technological know-how, intellectual property, and a highly skilled workforce.

That is why we offer technology licenses and sharing options. The pursuit of access to such IP connects new manufacturers with more established ones. The new manufacturers can then access their extensive knowledge and experience in biopharma production – for oncology treatments, inhalation therapies and other specialised products. They can get access to the latest technologies and processes through these licensing agreements. They get to train and upskill their local workforce to adopt advanced biopharma techniques. And they can meet high international standards – this quality assurance and quick time to market also makes them more competitive in the global market.

Finally, an oft-overlooked benefit of localising biopharma manufacturing is the stimulus it gives to the entire industrial ecosystem. Local pharma manufacturing encourages the development of related industries like logistics, packaging, raw material supply and the like. This, in turn, creates a favourable environment for industrial activity as a whole. It gives investors confidence to commit their resources to regions that have such established infrastructure.

Regulatory compliance to deliver high-quality pharma products

Pharma manufacturers can rest assured about regulatory compliance when they use PodTech™’s factory systems. Our podules™ have the necessary systems and safety controls in place – fire protection, air handling, building management systems, etc. Each of our podules™ is rigorously tested and validated before it leaves our manufacturing facility. This means that compliance with regulatory standards is guaranteed on our end.

We’ve made it our mission to bring this modular biopharma infrastructure to every underserved region in the world. But this tech isn’t new – it is already common in the West, so it is recognised by the US FDA, MHRA UK and EU GMP. A lot of Covid-19 vaccines in the US were made in pre-fabricated modular systems such as ours, so the system is tried and tested for large-scale biopharma production. Quality control and compliance are no more difficult with podules™ than they are with traditional biopharma factories.

Modular construction is the future 🚀: PodTech™’s mission to build trust in prefab structures

No good thing is free of some challenges. But at PodTech™, we approach these challenges as opportunities to fine-tune our offerings and build our capabilities.

On the technical front, largely, we’re very adaptable and can customise factory design to customer requirements. But sometimes, developing the right design for highly specialised or non-standard requirements becomes a bit more complex. Sometimes, a modular system may have some space limitations, making it difficult to accommodate large equipment within the layout.

With creativity, research and diligence, our teams are adept at coming up with solutions. So our real challenge now is to address the market perception of modular factory systems. Some pharma manufacturers assume that pre-fabricated systems are less robust or reliable. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Modular construction is not a new concept, and over the years, technology and design have advanced so much that pre-fabricated structures today are extremely strong and effective. In fact, they are also resilient to harsh weather conditions, which older traditional factories may not be.

With the work we’ve done at PodTech™ so far, we are demonstrating the effectiveness and reliability of our podules™. We hope to build greater trust in modular construction technology so that we can accelerate our mission to make modern medicine affordable and accessible to every person on our planet.