AUSTRALIA

Marine Bioproducts Cooperative Research Center

• Marine Bioproducts is a not-for-profit Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) bringing together more than 70 partners from academia and industry. We are driving Australia’s transition to the ‘third generation’ of marine production (first generation is fishing, second generation is aquaculture). We do this by funding research and the development of new products. Thanks to a federal government grant of $59 million and co-funding from our partners, we have more than $270 million to invest over 10 years. These funds support collaborative work in four key spaces:

  • Establishing pathways from biomarine discovery to markets in health, nutrition, agriculture, aquaculture and biomaterials

  • Creating and expanding sustainable marine bioresource production facilities

  • The integration of marine science and biotechnology with industries in Australia and overseas

  • Creating industry-ready graduates focused on taking discoveries out of the lab and into the economy

• Our aim is to make Australia a global player in marine biotech, an industry that is forecast to be worth more than US$700 billion by 2035.

 

CHINA

Qingdao Marine Biomedical Research Institute

• The Qingdao Marine Biomedical Research Institute (MBRI) was established by Ocean University of China (OUC) on the foundation of the National Marine Drug Engineering Technology Research Center and the School of Medicine. As a collaborative innovation hub for marine drug research, MBRI operates as an independent legal entity and a new type of R&D institution.

• The institute was founded by Professor Huashi Guan, a leading authority in marine drugs and biological products, a pioneer of modern marine drug research in China, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Situated on the scenic Qingdao coast, with mountains behind and the sea in front, MBRI houses a state-of-the-art R&D facility covering more than 16,000 square meters and equipped with advanced instruments valued at over 100 million yuan.

• MBRI follows a talent-driven development strategy, integrating domestic and international expertise, combining permanent and flexible staffing models, and recruiting both teams and individuals. The institute employs more than 150 staff members, including one academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, one academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, three recipients of national high-level talent programs, over ten Taishan Series program scholars, and nearly 70 senior professors and technical experts.

• The institute focuses on research and technological development in marine biopharmaceuticals, while also providing technology transfer, consulting, and related services. Its mission is to accelerate the translation of marine scientific discoveries into practical applications, strengthen the technology transfer pipeline, and bridge the gap between upstream basic research, applied research, and downstream industrialization. By addressing bottlenecks across the “science → technology → engineering → industry” innovation chain, MBRI plays a leading role in driving scientific and technological progress and fostering the growth of China’s marine biopharmaceutical industry.

• A signature initiative of MBRI is the pioneering “Blue Medicine Library” program, which systematically develops marine medicinal resources and builds on nearly 80 years of global achievements in marine drug research. Guided by the goal of creating innovative marine drugs, the program emphasizes the discovery of new structures, molecular targets, and mechanisms of action. It aims to establish a comprehensive marine biopharmaceutical resource library and a robust technology platform for drug development, ultimately leading to the creation of original marine drugs. Through this initiative, MBRI seeks to accelerate the rise and transformative growth of China’s marine biopharmaceutical industry.

 

ITALY

Interdepartmental Center for Marine Pharmacology (ICMP): University of Pisa

• The Interdepartmental Marine Pharmacology Center was founded in 2018 from the collaboration between the Department of Pharmacy and Department of Biology of the University of Pisa.
  Its goal is the study of marine biodiversity, researching new molecules and bioactive extracts with applications in the pharmacological, nutraceutical, and cosmetic fields.
  The Center, which currently has over 60 members, represents a center of excellence in the Italian scientific landscape, promoting an interdisciplinary approach that combines diverse expertise in a highly innovative research environment.​

 

UNITED KINGDOM

The Marine Biodiscovery Centre, University of Aberdeen, School of Natural and Computing Science, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

• ​The Marine Biodiscovery Centre was established in 2010 and its research predominantly concerns marine natural product chemistry including microbial strain isolation, genome mining, chemical isolation, and structural determination using spectroscopic methods. Scientists in the Marine Biodiscovery Centre engage in exciting projects focused on the discovery of biologically active molecules in a range of disease areas such treatments for parasitic infections, cancer, bacterial/fungal infections, and inflammation.

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USA

Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego

• ​Located at the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine (CMBB) is a campus wide UC San Diego research division dedicated to the exploration of the ocean and its connection to improving human health. Research programs focus on marine resources, from genes and molecules to organisms and ecosystems, that hold promise in the betterment of our wellbeing. CMBB scientists investigate a wide range of biotechnologies, from the special properties of deep-sea marine microbes to applications of transgenic “model” marine organisms.
   

Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development (CNBPD3), University of Florida

• Our drug discovery and development platform is natural products-centric and covers the entire range from the identification of unexplored organisms, particularly marine microbes with high biosynthetic capacity, as the starting point for our Genomes to Natural Products to Drugs initiative. CNPD3 members generate and annotate diverse natural and synthetic chemical libraries for phenotypic and target-based screening and subsequent medicinal chemistry efforts and use synthetic biology approaches to manipulate microbial natural products chemistry. Research programs include characterization and the mechanisms of action of drug candidates at the cellular and molecular level and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled and structure-based drug design to identify or improve on candidate compounds with identified targets. In parallel, we utilize targeted protein degradation (TPD) as a platform to develop innovative drug candidates and tool molecules for biological studies. Towards translation of the most promising discoveries, we are using state-of-the-art in vivo models that are most predictive for activity in a clinical setting. Our disease focus is on cancer as well as inflammation, drug abuse, addiction and pain as the major indications, and we collaborate with other centers on our leads in infectious diseases and other important disease areas.
   

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Center for Marine Biomedical and Biotechnology Research , Florida Atlantic University

• ​The primary mission for the Center for Marine Biomedical and Biotechnology Research is to discover marine natural products with utility as medicines or as tools to allow us to better understand the molecular basis of disease.​

 

​The Center of Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington

• ​The Center for Marine Science at UNC Wilmington is dedicated to providing an environment that fosters a multidisciplinary approach to questions in basic marine research. The mission of the center is to promote basic and applied research in the fields of oceanography, coastal and wetland studies, marine biomedical and environmental physiology, and marine biotechnology and aquaculture.

INTERNATIONAL​

IUPHAR Natural Products Section

• ​​The objective of IUPHAR Natural Products Section is the initiation of linkages and discussion between scientists, industry and general public in the promotion of research and educational efforts in natural products.
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