The tour of Millennium Pharmaceuticals (Millenium) illustrated a company on the cutting edge of biotechnology research and some possible applications of Biomedical Engineering. Millenium was formed in 1993 at its base in Cambridge, Boston, and currently employs over 1100 staff. The company is involved in the development of drugs related to the genome with a philosophy centred on the ideal that all diseases have a genetic origin, thus making the genome the ideal target for biomedical research. While more involved with genetic screening and molecular technology than traditional engineering, it was interesting to see the application of mechanical and electronic engineering to biomedical science. Our tour focussed on the genomic screening technology of the company, which is involved with the identification of commercially important genes and the subsequent development of therapeutic drugs or aids for disease diagnosis. In particular, Millenium is searching for genes associated with many major human ailments, including cancer, asthma, cardiovascular disease, central nervous system disorders, obesity and highly infectious diseases. This has created over $1.3 billion in potential pharmaceutical partnership funding, and has led to the development of two oncology products, six products undergoing clinical trials, and hundreds of gene-based or related inventions that identify genes and their roles in disease.

Millenium have a firm belief that researchers across the world should have uniform access to raw human gene sequences. This aids the advancement of human health through an understanding of the role of genes in disease. However, highlighting many current issues in patent law, in which potentially profitable gene sequences are patented to protect financial investment in basic research, Millenium supports intellectual property protection for gene based inventions. Further, the company believes that the ability to patent inventions based on genes involved in disease diagnosis and treatment is necessary to encourage research and investment. Dilemmas surrounding patentability are bound to be a major concern for science and engineering in the coming years, especially in the field of biotechnology. Only by seeking patents covering the use of genes in diagnostics and disease treatments, as well as the genes themselves, is Millenium able to rationalise the investment of resources into the search for and commercialisation of cures for disease.

One of the most surprising observations in the labs of Millenium was the absence of the stereotyped biochemist, replete with white lab coat, pipette and a bundle of test tubes. With a strong focus on automation and robotics, most of the fundamental genetic screening is carried out by ‘armies’ of automated and networked sequencers. Obviously this doesn’t make people redundant, since they are still required to design, operate and maintain the machines. More fundamentally, this automation frees people to do the thinking rather than the tedious lab work. This said, to optimise the benefits of the machines, they are run for two shifts each day: from 8:00AM to 5:00PM and 5:00PM to midnight. rotisserie. Being on the cutting edge of technology means it is difficult or undesirable to purchase machines that do exactly the job you require. As such, Millenium are constantly involved in modifying, redesigning or designing their machines and robots. In particular, they have a strong focus on simplification, with the aim of making versatile robots that can carry out a wide array of tasks, or which are easily modified to perform a different role. In line with this philosophy, virtual instrumentation using interfaces such as LabView is extensively used to allow the creation and turnover of functional designs within days or hours, rather than weeks.

In conclusion, it was a valuable educational and engineering experience to tour some of the labs of Millenium Pharmaceutical. Witnessing the combination of business and engineering technology was both an inspiration and motivation, and cemented our perception of the practicality of engineering as a course of study. Although not strictly an engineering company, Millenium demonstrates the hybridisation typical of many new companies, in which science, technology and engineering are merged to form an innovative and commercially successful business.