One year after its launch, SPEEDCELL, the project coordinated by the biopharmaceutical company HIPRA and co-funded by the European Union through the EU4Health programme, has completed its first year of activity. The project aims to accelerate the development and manufacturing of vaccines and other biologics, contributing to a faster and more effective response to future health emergencies in line with the European Union’s 100 Days Mission.
To mark this milestone, the SPEEDCELL project team gathered on 3 July at the HIPRA Campus in Aiguaviva for the project’s second Annual Meeting. The meeting brought together representatives from across the consortium to review the progress achieved during the first year, share updates across the different work packages, and align on the priorities for the next phase of the project. Discussions focused on biologics development, manufacturing readiness, production scalability, and health preparedness, reinforcing the collaborative approach that underpins SPEEDCELL.
Over the past twelve months, SPEEDCELL has focused on establishing the scientific, technological, and organisational foundations required to transform how biologics are developed and manufactured. This work is centred on creating faster, more flexible and, scalable manufacturing platforms capable of responding to emerging health threats without compromising quality, safety, or regulatory standards.
“Effective pandemic preparedness is built before a crisis begins. In SPEEDCELL’s first year, we developed the individual building blocks; now, we must connect them and create the backbone of a platform that can help Europe respond faster and more effectively to future pandemics”, said Marc Biarnés, R&D Manager Human Health at HIPRA and Project Manager of SPEEDCELL.
As a four-year European project, SPEEDCELL is organised into different phases, each with a set of planned activities and objectives. During the initial phase, the scientific, technological, and organisational foundations have been laid for the work ahead. Key achievements in this first year include the implementation of a rapid workflow for fragment assembly technology for expression plasmid synthesis, the establishment of the project’s governance and quality framework, and the commissioning of 14 new pieces of critical equipment to support future development and manufacturing activities.
Laura Ferrer, R&D Director Human Health at HIPRA and Technical Coordinator of SPEEDCELL: “Completing this first year has only been possible thanks to the commitment, professionalism, and collaborative mindset of everyone involved in the project”.
One of the project’s core objectives is to develop technological platforms capable of accelerating vaccine and biologics development while ensuring scientific robustness, manufacturing flexibility, and long-term sustainability. These platforms are expected to deliver multiple benefits, including shorter development timelines, greater manufacturing scalability, improved cost efficiency, reduced development risks, and stronger technological capabilities.
Quality remains another cornerstone of the project. Throughout SPEEDCELL, quality is approached not only as a regulatory requirement, but also as a framework for decision-making, knowledge management, and execution excellence, ensuring that scientific innovation can be translated into reliable, scalable, and regulatory-compliant solutions.
Josep Ferrés, Corporate Quality Compliance Executive Director at HIPRA and Project Coordinator of SPEEDCELL: “Quality is much more than a regulatory requirement, it is the foundation that enables project’s like SPEEDCELL to become reliable and technologically robust”.
As the project enters its second year, the consortium will continue advancing the development of innovative technologies aimed at contributing to faster vaccine and biologics development while strengthening Europe’s preparedness and strategic autonomy in future health emergencies.
