The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) awarded BioCurie up to $9.3 million to accelerate the development of scalable, data-driven genomic medicine production.
While gene therapies have demonstrated transformative clinical potential, manufacturing remains one of the largest bottlenecks to broad patient access, noted a number of market reports. High development costs, variable yields, and lengthy process optimization cycles continue to slow commercialization and limit scalability across the industry.
Under the ARPA‑H award, BioCurie officials say the company will design, build, and validate an AI‑powered digital platform that replaces trial-and-error process development with intelligent computational modeling and simulation. By integrating advanced modeling, machine learning, and real-world manufacturing data, the platform aims to reduce development timelines and improve process robustness across viral and non-viral gene therapy production, according to Irene Rombel, CEO of BioCurie and principal investigator on the ARPA-H project.
“AI will fundamentally reshape how advanced therapies are developed and manufactured,” said Rombel. “This ARPA-H award validates our vision and accelerates our ability to deliver a scalable, digital-first manufacturing platform to therapy developers and manufacturers. Our mission is clear: bring disease-modifying and curative genomic medicines to patients faster and more affordably.”
This project brings together a consortium of gene therapy specialists across academia and industry, including Caring Cross, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Pennsylvania-based CDMO Center for Breakthrough Medicines. The University City Science Center in Philadelphia provided strategic support in the development and coordination of the ARPA-H proposal, helping align consortium partners and federal funding strategy, noted a BioCurie spokesperson, who added that the company’s platform is designed to serve biopharmaceutical developers and manufacturing organizations seeking to de-risk process development, reduce costs, and scale production more predictably.
Daria Fedyukina, PhD, program manager at ARPA-H, leads this project for the agency.
