The role of digital twins in driving sustainability

29 Oct 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Deborah McElhone, Barrie Cassey, Kamal Abu-Hassan

As the pharmaceutical sector endeavours to become more sustainable, we hear how digital twins – virtual replicas of systems or products that can help predict performance – are supporting the industry in its efforts.

Continuous Processing. Continuous Evolution

08 Oct 2024 | Magazine | Contributor(s): Douglas Hausner

Continuous processing for small molecule products has been a hot topic for years, but where does the industry stand with it today? We speak with Doug Hausner, Senior Manager, Continuous Manufacturing, Oral Solid Dose, Pharma Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific, to find out.

Pharmaceutical Continuous Manufacturing: Content Uniformity With PAT And RTR

16 Sep 2024 | Website | Contributor(s): Richard Steiner

In pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing (PCM), technical solutions ensuring critical quality attributes for content uniformity and unit dose exist for online, in-line, and at-line measurements. Process analytical technology (PAT) allows in-line measurement and control of critical process...

A modeling and control framework for extraction processes

05 Sep 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Peter Neugebauer, Jakob Rehrl, Peter Poechlauer, Dirk Kirschneck, Martin Horn, Martin Steinberger, Stephan Sacher, Joscha Boehm, Daniel Moser

Many continuously operated pharmaceutical process routes have been presented recently. Most of these cover the synthesis of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) or solid dosage processing. However, the API purification is also gaining attraction. One widespread and waste-intensive unit...

The Rise of Continuous Manufacturing in Pharma

13 Aug 2024 | Website | Contributor(s): Editorial Team

"Mr Indu Bhushan, CEO and Director of STEERLife shares his insights on the transformative journey of continuous manufacturing, and the advanced technologies that have propelled this paradigm shift. He also throws light on how continuous manufacturing has accelerated drug development...

Critical review on the role of excipient properties in pharmaceutical powder-to-tablet continuous manufacturing

13 Aug 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Sara Fathollahi, Pauline H. M. Janssen, Bastiaan H. J. Dickhoff, Henderik W. Frijlink

The pharmaceutical industry is gradually changing batch-wise manufacturing processes to continuous manufacturing processes, due to the advantages it has to offer. The final product quality and process efficiency of continuous manufacturing processes is among others impacted by the properties of...

Continuous Manufacturing in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Enhancing Drug Production

23 Jul 2024 | Website | Contributor(s): Timmerman, Siebe

A significant shift towards continuous manufacturing (CM) is currently underway in the pharmaceutical industry. Unlike the more commonly used batch processing, CM operates continuously. This method potentially offers increased efficiency, agility, and flexibility in the manufacturing of drug...

Process Intensification via End-to-End Continuous Manufacturing of Atorvastatin Calcium Using an Integrated, Modular Reaction-Crystallization-Spherical Agglomeration-Filtration-Drying Process

23 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Parvaresh, Rojan, Nagy, Zoltan K.

Continuous manufacturing can show potential benefits over batch processing in lower turnaround times and smaller footprint in addition to higher productivity, adaptability, and consistent product quality. Although these possible benefits exist, there are also challenges in integrating the various...

Blend uniformity monitoring in a continuous manufacturing mixing process for a low-dosage formulation using a stream sampler and near infrared spectroscopy

19 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Rodolfo Romanach, Raúl S. Rangel-Gil, Juan M. Nasrala-Álvarez, Rafael Méndez

Continuous manufacturing has the potential to offer several benefits for the production of oral solid dosage forms, including reduced costs, low-scale equipment, and the application of process analytical technology (PAT) for real-time process control. This study focuses on the implementation of...

Control oriented modeling of twin-screw granulation in the ConsiGmaTM-25 production plant

09 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Johannes Khinast, Martin Horn, Jakob Rehrl, Selma Celikovic, Johannes Poms

ConsiGmaTM-25 is a continuous production plant integrating a twin-screw granulation, fluid bed drying, granule conditioning, and a tableting unit. The particle size distribution (PSD), active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content, and liquid content of wet granules after twin-screw...

Implementation of a fully integrated continuous manufacturing line for direct compression and coating at a commercial pharmaceutical facility – Part 1: Operational considerations and control strategy

25 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Conway, Stephen L., Rosas, Juan G., Overton, Paul, Tugby, Neil, Cryan, Phillip, Witulski, Frank, Hurley, Samantha, Wareham, Laura, Tantuccio, Anthony, Ramasamy, Manoharan, Lalloo, Anita, Gibbs, Mason, Meyer, Robert F.

We implement a fully integrated continuous manufacturing (CM) line for direct compression and coating of a pharmaceutical oral solid dosage form in a commercial production facility. In this first paper of a two-part series, we describe process design and operational choices made to introduce CM...

Implementation of a fully integrated CM direct compression and coating process at a commercial pharmaceutical facility - Part 2: PAT and RTD results for normal operational conditions batches.

25 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Rosas, JG, Brush, P, Thompson, B, Miller, C, Overton, P, Tugby, N, Stoliarskaia, D, Hurley, S, Ramasamy, M, Conway, SL

This is the second of two articles detailing the continuous manufacturing (CM) development and implementation activities for an marketed product which have been realized in novel, qualified equipment, using validated control strategy elements to enable manufacture of batches under current good...

Development and Application of Control Concepts for Twin-Screw Wet Granulation in the ConsiGmaTM-25: Part 2 Granule Size

04 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Selma Celikovic, Johannes Poms, Johannes Khinast, Martin Horn, Jakob Rehrl

Traditional operation modes, such as running the production processes at constant process settings or within a narrow design space, do not fully exploit the advantages of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. Integrating Quality by Control (QbC) algorithms as a standard component of...

Development and Application of Control Concepts for Twin-Screw Wet Granulation in the ConsiGmaTM-25: Part 2 Granule Size

04 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Selma Celikovic, Johannes Poms, Johannes Khinast, Martin Horn, Jakob Rehrl

Traditional operation modes, such as running the production processes at constant process settings or within a narrow design space, do not fully exploit the advantages of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. Integrating Quality by Control (QbC) algorithms as a standard component of...

Embracing continuous manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry

03 Jun 2024 | Website | Contributor(s): Joelle Anselmo

"Drugmakers have been slow to adopt the production process, which experts say can streamline operations, boost data quality and reduce time to market."

Continuous Flow Intensification for the Synthesis of High-Purity Warfarin

10 May 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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...

A Focused and Flexible Analytical Strategy is Key to Unlocking the Benefits of Continuous Manufacturing

11 Apr 2024 | Website | Contributor(s): Bikash Chatterjee

Continuous manufacturing processes promise shorter manufacturing cycle times without the need for intermediate storage, sampling testing and release of intermediate process steps, and shorter product release times through the intelligent application of in-line and at-line testing strategies....

Innovation and Continuous Improvement in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

28 Mar 2024 | Document | Contributor(s): Ajaz Hussain (Chairperson) Raafat Fahmy (CVM), William Bargo (CVM), Robert Coleman, Robert (ORA), Elise Murphy (ORA), Frank Holcombe Jr (CDER), Chris Watts (CDER), See Lam (CDER), Jon Clark (CDER), Christopher Joneckis (CBER), John Dietrick (CDER), Diana Kolaitis (ORA), Vilayat Sayeed (CDER), Mai Huynh (CVM), Norman Schmuff (CDER), Andrew Chang (CBER)

The PAT Team and Manufacturing Science Working Group Report: A Summary of Learning, Contributions and Proposed Next Steps for Moving towards the "Desired State" of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in the 21st Century

A Perspective on Quality by Design: A Preclinical Opportunity

28 Mar 2024 | Document | Contributor(s): Ajaz S. Hussain

A Shared Vision for Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing in the 21st Century: Contributions of the PAT Initiative

28 Mar 2024 | Document | Contributor(s): Ajaz S. Hussain

The Subcommittee on Process Analytical Technologies (PAT): Closing Remarks

28 Mar 2024 | Document | Contributor(s): Ajaz S. Hussain