Three CDMO–XR Company Pairs to Receive Up to $300,000 Each to Pilot GMP Technician Training
LOS ANGELES – July 30, 2026 – BioTools Innovator (BTI) VANGUARD has selected three company pairs to receive awards totaling approximately $900,000 through its Level UP-XR program, the first BARDA* funded initiative designed to evaluate the effectiveness of extended reality (XR) technologies in onboarding biopharmaceutical manufacturing technicians. Each selected pair will receive up to $300K in non-dilutive funding to conduct a real-world pilot study, under GMP manufacturing conditions, over a period of up to 12 months.
The awarded pairs include:
Level UP-XR, part of BTI’s VANGUARD program, challenges contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) and XR technology companies to jointly develop and test immersive training platforms for technicians entering good manufacturing practice (GMP) environments. Pilots will benchmark XR-based onboarding outcomes against each CDMO’s established non-XR training protocols, with results aiming to establish new practices for biopharmaceutical workforce training.
“Strengthening America’s biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce is of national importance. These three pairs are ready to push the boundaries of what this immersive technology is capable of,” said Brian Benson, SVP & Director, BTI VANGUARD. “We are proud to support these collaborations as they test and validate training solutions that could fundamentally change how our industry partners onboard the next generation of biopharmaceutical manufacturing technicians.”
The selected CDMOs—Kindeva, Jubilant HollisterStier, and KBI Biopharma—each bring established GMP manufacturing capabilities and structured technician onboarding programs, providing real-world operational contexts in which to rigorously evaluate XR solutions. Their XR partners, Prism Immersive and Altoura, offer platforms adaptable to regulated manufacturing environments, spanning virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality modalities.
Pilot programs are anticipated to launch in June 2026 and run through June 2027. The overarching goal of this effort is to enable the biopharmaceutical industry at large to realize the benefit of XR training modalities for biomanufacturing technician onboarding, ideally establishing new industry-wide baselines and best practices.
*This project has been supported in whole or in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR); Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under agreement number 75A50124C00034.
About BioTools Innovator
BioTools Innovator VANGUARD is the Enabling Technologies Hub of the BARDA Accelerator Network as part of BARDA’s ongoing mission to support the development of medical countermeasures to prepare for and respond to dynamic or unpredictable biothreats. VANGUARD is powered by Los Angeles-based BioTools Innovator, which was established to advance cutting-edge research and improve human health by accelerating the growth of a broad spectrum of life science tools and diagnostics. BioTools Innovator matches industry leaders with innovative early-stage and emerging growth biotechnology-focused companies for mentorship and support.
For more information about BioTools Innovator VANGUARD, visit the website and follow the organization on LinkedIn.