NRC — Cell Culture Pilot Plant ### 📋 Eligible Entities - Biopharmaceutical companies developing biologics and vaccines - Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the life sciences sector - Biotech startups requiring pilot-scale manufacturing capabilities - Academic institutions and research organizations commercializing cell culture technologies - Contract manufacturers seeking cell culture development services - Companies lacking in-house cell culture infrastructure and pilot plant capacity Note: This is a fee-for-service facility rather than a grant program with equity requirements; entities must have legitimate biologics or vaccine development projects. ### 💰 Funding Details - Structure: Fee-for-service model (not a traditional grant) - Cost Basis: Users pay for access to NRC's cell culture pilot plant facilities and expertise - Pricing: Tiered rates based on: - Duration of facility usage - Complexity of scale-up project - Level of technical support required - Equipment and consumables consumed - No Repayment Required: Service fees paid directly to NRC; no loan component - Potential Cost Sharing: Organizations may negotiate volume discounts or partnership arrangements with NRC ### 🛠️ Approved Expenses - Cell line development and optimization (CHO, HEK 293, and other animal cell systems) - Process development for biologics and vaccine production - Scale-up activities from bench to pilot plant scale - Cell culture media formulation and testing - Bioreactor operation and monitoring - Product purification and downstream processing support - Quality control and analytical testing - GMP-compliant manufacturing support (where applicable) - Technical consulting from NRC cell culture experts - Consumables and materials used during pilot production runs ### ⚠️ Conditions & Milestones - Project Scope Definition: Organizations must clearly define their cell culture development objectives and scale-up requirements upfront - Technical Assessment: NRC conducts feasibility review to confirm project suitability for available systems (CHO, HEK 293, etc.)