Continuous Flow Intensification for the Synthesis of High-Purity Warfarin

10 May 2024 | Contributor(s): Silva-Brenes, Diana V., Reyes-Vargas, Stephanie K., Duconge, Jorge, Vlaar, Cornelis, Stelzer, Torsten, Monbaliu, Jean-Christophe M.

While racemic warfarin was initially commercialized as a rodenticide, it has become the most prescribed anticoagulant drug for prevention of blood clots and is part of the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. The synthesis of warfarin appears straightforward, consisting of a...

Rapid production of the anaesthetic mepivacaine through continuous, portable technology

24 Apr 2024 | Contributor(s): Díaz-Kruik, Pablo, Paradisi, Francesca

Local anaesthetics such as mepivacaine are key molecules in the medical sector, so ensuring their supply chain is crucial for every health care system. Rapid production of mepivacaine from readily available commercial reagents and (non-dry) solvents under safe conditions using portable,...

Multi-step Flow Synthesis of the Anthelmintic Drug Praziquantel

24 Apr 2024 | Contributor(s): Phull, Manjinder Singh, Bohara, Chander Singh, Gundla, Rambabu, Mainkar, Prathama S., Jadav, Surender Singh

Praziquantel (PZQ; Brand name: Biltricide) is categorized as an anthelminthic drug, and it is used for the treatment of Schistosomiasis and other parasitic infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified it as one of the essential and emergency medicines needed across the globe....

Continuous Flow-Facilitated CB2 Agonist Synthesis, Part 2: Cyclization, Chlorination, and Amination

24 Apr 2024 | Contributor(s): Prieschl, Michael, Sagmeister, Peter, Moessner, Christian, Sedelmeier, Joerg, Williams, Jason D., Kappe, C. Oliver

A new route to the cannabinoid receptor type 2 agonist, RG7774, has been developed circumventing an alkylation with poor regioselectivity as the final step. In the new synthetic route, this side chain is incorporated from the beginning. In this article, the development of the final four...

A Continuous Process for Manufacturing Apremilast. Part I: Process Development and Intensification by Utilizing Flow Chemistry Principles

24 Apr 2024 | Contributor(s): Hsieh, Hsiao-Wu, Griffin, Daniel J., Ananthoji, Padmini, Avci, Nadide Hazal, Brown, Derek B., Ericson, Ari, Fostinis, James D., Irfan, Muhammad, Langille, Neil, Lovette, Michael A., Murray, James I., Spada, Simone, Thiel, Oliver R., Aiello, Frankie, Daou, Joseph, Goudas-Salomon, Nicole, Pan, Ende, Sarkar, Nandini, Wimalasinghe, Rasangi, Wu, Zufan Steven, Zeng, Alicia, Beaver, Matthew G., Cohen, Carolyn M.

Herein, we report the development of an integrated continuous manufacturing (CM) process for the penultimate step in the synthesis of apremilast, the drug substance (DS) of the commercial product Otezla. This development effort was motivated by the desire to create an alternative manufacturing...

Using online mass spectrometry to predict the end point during drying of pharmaceutical products

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Dodda, Aditya G., Saranteas, Kostas, Henson, Michael A.

Drying of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is an energy-intensive process that is often a manufacturing bottleneck due to the relatively long processing times. A key objective is the ability to determine the drying end point, the time at which all solvent has been evaporated from the...

Towards a novel continuous HME-Tableting line: Process development and control concept

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Sacher, Stephan, Celikovic, Selma, Rehrl, Jakob, Poms, Johannes, Kirchengast, Martin, Kruisz, Julia, Sipek, Martin, Salar-Behzadi, Sharareh, Berger, Hannes, Stark, Gerald, Horn, Martin, Khinast, Johannes G.

The objective of this study was to develop a novel closed-loop controlled continuous tablet manufacturing line, which first uses hot melt extrusion (HME) to produce pellets based on API and a polymer matrix. Such systems can be used to make complex pharmaceutical formulations, e.g., amorphous...

The Evolving State of Continuous Processing in Pharmaceutical API Manufacturing: A Survey of Pharmaceutical Companies and Contract Manufacturing Organizations

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): McWilliams, JC, Allian, ADOpalka, SM, May, SA, Journet, M, Braden, TM

This manuscript provides the results of an in-depth survey assessment of the capabilities, experience, and perspectives on continuous processing in the pharmaceutical sector, with respondents from both pharmaceutical companies and Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs). The survey includes...

The Changing Face of Process Development & Chemical Manufacturing - A View from the Regulators on Continuous Manufacturing

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Wiles, Charolotte

Industry wide there is a drive for resource efficiency and flexibility, to adapt quickly in what is increasingly becoming a volatile, changing marketplace. As the ‘patent cliff’ looms for many high-volume API’s, there is also a shift away from blockbusters towards lower volume, higher potency...

System-wide hybrid MPC–PID control of a continuous pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing process via direct compaction

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Singh, Ravendra, Ierapetritou, Marianthi, Ramachandran, Rohit

The next generation of QbD based pharmaceutical products will be manufactured through continuous processing. This will allow the integration of online/inline monitoring tools, coupled with an efficient advanced model-based feedback control systems, to achieve precise control of process variables,...

Solvothermal Crystallization Kinetics and Control of Crystal Size Distribution of MOF-808 in a Continuous Flow Reactor

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Bagi, Sujay D., Myerson, Allan S. Román-Leshkov, Yuriy, Román-Leshkov, Yuriy

A fundamental understanding of the crystallization pathways for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) allows for exploring the untapped combinatorial space of the organic and inorganic building units, creating possibilities to synthesize highly crystalline frameworks with desired physicochemical...

Small-Volume Continuous Manufacturing of Merestinib. Part 1. Process Development and Demonstration

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Cole, KP, Reizman, BJHess, M, Groh, JM, Laurila, ME, Cope, RF, Campbell, BM, Forst, MB, Burt, JL, Maloney, TD, Johnson, MD, Mitchell, D, Polster, CS, Mitra, AW, Boukerche, M, Conder, EW, Braden, TM, Miller, RD, Heller, MR, Phillips, JL, Howell, JR

Development of a small volume continuous process that used a combination of batch and flow unit operations to manufacture the small molecule oncolytic candidate merestinib is described. Continuous processing was enabled following the identification and development of suitable chemical...

Small-Volume Continuous Manufacturing of Merestinib. Part 2.Technology Transfer and cGMP Manufacturing

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Reizman, Brandon J., Hess, Molly, Burt, Justin L., Maloney, Todd D., Johnson, Martin D., Laurila, Michael E., Cope, Richard F., Luciani, Carla V., Buser, Jonas Y., Campbell, Bradley M., Forst, Mindy B., Mitchell, David, Braden, Timothy M., Lippelt, Christopher K., Boukerche, Moussa, Starkey, Derek R., Miller, Richard D., Chen, Jing, Sun, Baoquan, Kwok, Martin, Zhang, Xin, Tadayon, Sam, Huang, Ping

Technology transfer of a small volume continuous (SVC) process and Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) manufacturing of merestinib are described. A hybrid batch-SVC campaign was completed at a contract manufacturing organization under cGMP. The decision process by which unit operations...

Separation and Purification in the Continuous Synthesis of Fine Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): O'Mahony, M, Ferguson, SStelzer, T, Myerson, A

The use to both chemists and chemical engineers working in flow synthesis, this chapter provides a summary of separation and purification operations that can be applied to flow synthesis reaction streams. Both single and biphasic separations for the liquid phase are detailed. Separation and...

Selective crystallization of the metastable α-form of L-glutamic acid using concentration feedback control

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Kee, Nicholas C.S., Tan, Reginald B.H. Braatz, Richard D., Braatz, Richard D.

A systematic methodology is presented for the selective crystallization of the metastable form of a monotropic dimorph, L-glutamic acid, for batch cooling crystallization. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with chemometrics was used to...

Sampling and Analysis in Flow: The Keys to Smarter, More Controllable, and sustainable Fine-Chemical Manufacturing

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Morin, Mathieu, Zhang, Wenyao, Mallik, Debasis, Organ, Michael G

Process analytical technology (PAT) is a system designed to help chemists better understand and control manufacturing processes. PAT systems operate through the combination of analytical devices, reactor control elements, and mathematical models to ensure the quality of the final product through...

Sampling and Analysis in Flow: The Keys to Smarter, More Controllable, and sustainable Fine-Chemical Manufacturing

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Morin, Mathieu, Zhang, Wenyao, Mallik, Debasis, Organ, Michael G

Process analytical technology (PAT) is a system designed to help chemists better understand and control manufacturing processes. PAT systems operate through the combination of analytical devices, reactor control elements, and mathematical models to ensure the quality of the final product through...

Scaling continuous API synthesis from milligram to kilogram: extending the enabling benefits of micro to the plant

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Berton, M, de, Souza, JMAbdiaj, I, McQuade, DT, Snead, DR

The signature benefits of continuous flow are largely a result of a reactor's micro-sized features. However, as the technology gains industrial traction in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), the reactors must be scaled to larger size to meet production demands. Often, the...

Robust nonlinear model predictive control of batch processes

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Nagy, Zoltan K., Braatz, Richard D.

NMPC explicitly addresses constraints and nonlinearities during the feedback control of batch processes. This NMPC algorithm also explicitly takes parameter uncertainty into account in the state estimation and state feedback controller designs. An extended Kalman filter estimates the process...

Residence Time Distribution (RTD)-Based Control System for Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Process

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Bhaskar, Aparajith, Singh, Ravendra

Real-Time Monitoring of Powder Mass Flowrates for Plant-Wide Control of a Continuous Direct Compaction Tablet Manufacturing Process

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Huang, Yan-Shu, Medina-González, Sergio Straiton, Benjamin Keller, Joshua, Marashdeh, Qussai, Gonzalez, Marcial, Nagy, Zoltan, Reklaitis, Gintaras V.

While measurement and monitoring of powder/particulate mass flow rate are not essential to the execution of traditional batch pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing, in continuous operation, it is an important additional critical process parameter. It has a key role both in establishing that the...

Real-time process monitoring in a semi-continuous fluid-bed dryer - microwave resonance technology versus near-infrared spectroscopy

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Peters, Johanna, Teske, Andreas, Taute, Wolfgang, Döscher, Claas, Höft, Michael, Knöchel, Reinhard, Breitkreutz, Jörg

The trend towards continuous manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry is associated with an increasing demand for advanced control strategies. It is a mandatory requirement to obtain reliable real-time information on critical quality attributes (CQA) during every process step as the decision...

Real time monitoring of powder blend bulk density for coupled feed-forward/feed-back control of a continuous direct compaction tablet manufacturing process

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Singh, Ravendra, Román-Ospino, Andrés D. Romañach, Rodolfo J. Ierapetritou, Marianthi, Ramachandran, Rohit

The pharmaceutical industry is strictly regulated, where precise and accurate control of the end product quality is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the drug products. For such control, the process and raw materials variability ideally need to be fed-forward in real time into an automatic...

Real-time feasible model-based crystal size and shape control of crystallization processes

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Szilagyi, Botond, Nagy, Zoltan K.

The simultaneous control of crystal size and shape is particularly important in fine chemical and pharmaceutical crystallization. These two quantities influence the dissolution rate and bioavailability of final drug products, and also contribute to the manufacturability and efficiency of...

Reactor design and selection for effective continuous manufacturing of pharmaceuticals

09 Jun 2023 | Contributor(s): Hu, Chuntian

Pharmaceutical production remains one of the last industries that predominantly uses batch processes, which are inefficient and can cause drug shortages due to the long lead times or quality defects. Consequently, pharmaceutical companies are transitioning away from outdated batch lines, in large...