Biography: Prof. Kim is a Yonsan chaired professor of Chem. Eng. POSTECH in Korea as a director of center for Intelligent Microprocess of Pharmaceutical Synthesis. He obtained Ph.D. in chemistry, post-doctor at materials engineering, and have worked at national lab and university since 1993, will shift to HIT-shenzhen as a Changjiang Scholar. His career on the microfluidic-based continuous-flow synthetic processes cover developing the manufacturing platforms for scale-up production of API and bespoke drug delivery systems. Recently, Al-based autonomous and integrated system and process of DDS and biopharmaceuticals are devoted. He has published 350 peer-reviewed papers and 50 patents. He received Academic Excellence Award (2017, Korean Chemical Society), Severo Ochoa Visiting Fellowship (2017, Spain), POSTECHIAN of the Year (2016, POSTECH), The Scientist of the Month (2016, NRF) and Best 100 Scientific Achievement (2014 & 2007, NRF), and appointed as a Yonsan chaired professor by POSTECH at 2017, selected as a Henry McGee Lecturer 2021 by Virginia State University (USA).

 

Abstract: In the development of highly effective drug delivery systems (DDS), autonomous multi-step manufacturing of nanoparticles with precisely controlled size and maximized drug loading is achieved by seamlessly integrating combinatorial synthesis of drug-loaded lipid or polymer nanoparticles, rapid flow-dialysis to purify them, followed by real-time characterization of size and encapsulation efficiency (EE) in a continuous-flow manner. To accomplish this, a newly devised ultrafast flow-dialysis module to efficiently remove impurities and exchanges buffers within 15 min while maintaining original uniformity. These integrated multi-step processes are autonomously carried by leveraging a multi-objective Bayesian optimization (MOBO) algorithm. Consequently, rapid screening of multi-step parameters facilitates the swift manufacturing of both doxorubicin-loaded liposomes and PEG-PLGA nanoparticles, customized in size and drug loading within 4 hrs for each. In addition, messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutics have emerged as a powerful platform for vaccines and personalized medicine, yet current manufacturing processes are inefficient, limited by high costs, long production times, and complexity. An automated microfluidic oscillatory platform that enables fast mRNA synthesis through in vitro co-transcription (IVT) with capping process. Periodic reciprocal mixing of multicomponent mixtures for IVT are integrated with multiple unit operations of DNA template digestion, chromatographic purification, and up-concentration steps in a quasi-continuous and efficient mRNA production manner. The versatility of this AI-based autonomous platforms accelerates the development timeline for targeted DDS, including gene delivery, addressing diverse therapeutic needs in the field of nanomedicine.