Delta-mannitol to enable continuous twin-screw granulation of a highly dosed, poorly compactable formulation

23 Jul 2024 | Contributor(s): Vanhoorne, V., Almey, R., De Beer, T., Vervaet, C.

In current study, it was investigated if the moisture-mediated polymorphic transition from δ- to β-mannitol during twin screw granulation (TSG) also took place in high drug loaded formulations and if the specific granule morphology associated with the polymorphic transition could enable tableting...

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...

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...

Visualization and understanding of the granulation liquid mixing and distribution during continuous twin screw granulation using NIR chemical imaging

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Vercruysse, Jurgen, Toiviainen, Maunu, Fonteyne, Margot, Helkimo, Niko, Ketolainen, Jarkko, Juuti, Mikko, Delaet, Urbain, Van Assche, Ivo, Remon, Jean Paul, Vervaet, Chris, De Beer, Thomas

Over the last decade, there has been increased interest in the application of twin screw granulation as a continuous wet granulation technique for pharmaceutical drug formulations. However, the mixing of granulation liquid and powder material during the short residence time inside the screw...

Use of the channel fill level in defining a design space for twin screw wet granulation

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Gorringe, L. J., Kee, G. S., Saleh, M. F., Fa, N. H., Elkes, R. G.

Twin screw wet granulation is a key process in the continuous manufacture of oral solid dosage forms. Previous Research Article has qualitatively suggested that the channel fill level influences the granules produced. In this paper a quantitative measure of the total volumetric fraction of the...

TPLS as predictive platform for twin-screw wet granulation process and formulation development

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Ryckaert, A., Van Hauwermeiren, D., Dhondt, J., De Man, A., Funke, A., Djuric, D., Vervaet, C., Nopens, I., De Beer, T.

In recent years, the interest in continuous manufacturing techniques, such as twin-screw wet granulation, has increased. However, the understanding of the influence of the combination of raw material properties and process settings upon the granule quality attributes is still limited. In this...

Transfer from High-Shear Batch to Continuous Twin Screw Wet Granulation: A Case Study in Understanding the Relationship Between Process Parameters and Product Quality Attributes

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Beer, Paul, Wilson, David, Huang, Zhenyu, De Matas, Marcel

A twin screw to high-shear batch granulation technology switch was evaluated for a pharmaceutical development project. Differences in granule (particle size distribution and porosity) and tablet (dissolution) quality attributes were analysed for both continuous and batch technologies. Liquid to...

Twin screw granulation - review of current progress

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Thompson, M. R.

Twin screw granulation (TSG) is a new process of interest to the pharmaceutical community that can continuously wet granulate powders, doing so at lower liquid concentrations and with better product consistency than found by a high shear batch mixer. A considerable body of Research Article has...

The Influence of Equipment Design and Process Parameters on Granule Breakage in a Semi-Continuous Fluid Bed Dryer after Continuous Twin-Screw Wet Granulation

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Ryckaert, Alexander, Ghijs, Michael, Portier, Christoph, Djuric, Dejan, Funke, Adrian, Vervaet, Chris, De Beer, Thomas

The drying unit of a continuous from-powder-to-tablet manufacturing line based on twin-screw granulation (TSG) is a crucial intermediate process step to achieve the desired tablet quality. Understanding the size reduction of pharmaceutical granules before, during, and after the fluid bed drying...

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

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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 effect of screw configuration and formulation variables on liquid requirements and granule quality in a continuous twin screw wet granulation process

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Vandevivere, L., Van Wijmeersch, E., Hausler, O., De Beer, T., Vervaet, C., Vanhoorne, V.

The effect of two screw configurations with varying stagger angle was evaluated on the liquid amount required to produce good quality granules for a highly (mannitol-based) and a poorly (DCP-based) soluble formulation containing different binders. It is generally known that the use of a higher...

The impact of channel fill level on internal forces during continuous twin screw wet granulation

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Torrecillas, Carlota Mendez, Gorringe, Lee J., Rajoub, Nazer, Robertson, John, Elkes, Richard G., Lamprou, Dimitrios A., Halbert, Gavin W

The forces experienced by the particles inside a twin screw granulator (TSG) are one of the most difficult parameters to measure quantitatively. However, it is possible to perform accurately this measurement through the use of dye containing calibrated microencapsulated sensors (LAMES) whose...

Switching from batch to continuous granulation: A case study of metoprolol succinate ER tablets

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Kotamarthy, Lalith, Feng, Xin, Alayoubi, Alaadin, Bolla, Pradeep Kumar, Ramachandran, Rohit, Ashraf, Muhammad, O'Connor, Thomas, Zidan, Ahmed

Continuous manufacturing (CM) has been used to produce several immediate release drug products. No extended-release (ER) product manufactured employing CM technology has been approved yet. This study investigated the critical aspects of switching from the batch mode of high shear granulation to...

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

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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...

Simplified formulations with high drug loads for continuous twin-screw granulation

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Meier, R., Thommes, M., Rasenack, N., Krumme, M., Moll, K. -P., Kleinebudde, P.

As different batches of the same excipients will be intermixed during continuous processes, the traceability of batches is complicated. Simplified formulations may help to reduce problems related to batch intermixing and traceability. Twin-screw granulation with subsequent tableting was used to...

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

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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...

Recent progress in continuous and semi-continuous processing of solid oral dosage forms: a review

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Tezyk, Michal, Ernst, Andrzej, Milanowski, Bartlomiej, Lulek, Janina

Continuous processing is an innovative production concept well known and successfully used in other industries for many years. The modern pharmaceutical industry is facing the challenge of transition from a traditional manufacturing approach based on batch-wise production to a continuous...

Recent progress in continuous manufacturing of oral solid dosage forms

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Vanhoorne, Valérie, Vervaet, Chris

Continuous drug product manufacturing is slowly being implemented in the pharmaceutical industry. Although the benefits related to the quality and cost of continuous manufacturing are widely recognized, several challenges hampered the widespread introduction of continuous manufacturing of drug...