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.

Development of a high-fidelity digital twin using the discrete element method for a continuous direct compression process. Part 1. Calibration workflow

24 Oct 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Peter Toson, Marko Matić, Theresa Hörmann-Kincses, Michela Beretta, Jakob Rehrl, Johannes Poms, Thomas O’Connor, Abdollah Koolivand, Geng Tian, Scott M. Krull, Johannes G. Khinast, Dalibor Jajcevic, Johan Remmelgas

In this work, a high-fidelity digital twin was developed to support the design and testing of control strategies for drug product manufacturing via direct compression. The high-fidelity digital twin platform was based on typical pharmaceutical equipment, materials, and direct compression...

Understanding Powder Behavior in Continuous Feeding: Powder Densification and Screw Layering

16 Oct 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Sara Fathollahi, Pauline H. M. Janssen, Bram Bekaert, Dirk Vanderroost, Valerie Vanhoorne, Bastiaan H. J. Dickhoff

Background: Precise continuous feeding of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and excipients is crucial in a continuous powder-to-tablet manufacturing setup, as any inconsistency can affect the final tablet quality. Method: This study investigated the impact of various materials on the...

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.

Continuous micro feeding and mixing of solid dosage forms under vibrational excitation

08 Oct 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Haifeng Lu, Liang Zhang, Hui Du, Xiaolei Guo, Haifeng Liu

Continuous manufacturing has intrigued many researchers in the pharmaceutical industry in the post-COVID-19 world. We experimentally studied the discharge characteristics of pharmaceutical excipients under vibrational excitation. The successful accurate dosing and filling of powders at fill...

Continuous micro feeding and mixing of solid dosage forms under vibrational excitation

08 Oct 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Haifeng Lu, Liang Zhang, Hui Du, Xiaolei Guo, Haifeng Liu

Continuous manufacturing has intrigued many researchers in the pharmaceutical industry in the post-COVID-19 world. We experimentally studied the discharge characteristics of pharmaceutical excipients under vibrational excitation. The successful accurate dosing and filling of powders at fill...

Systematic investigation of the impact of screw elements in continuous wet granulation

10 Sep 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Katharina Kiricenko, Peter Kleinebudde, Robin Meier

Twin-screw wet granulation (TSG) is a continuous manufacturing technique either for granules as final dosage form or as an intermediate before tableting or capsule filling. A comprehensive process understanding is required to implement TSG, considering various parameters influencing granule and...

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...

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...

Process intensification of pharmaceutical powder blending at commercial throughputs by utilizing semi-continuous mini-blending

13 Aug 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Maarten Jaspers, Florian Tegel, Timo P. Roelofs, Fabian Starsich, Yunfei Li Song, Bernhard Meir, Richard Elkes, Bastiaan H.J. Dickhoff

Process intensification involves the miniaturization of equipment while retaining process throughput and performance. The pharmaceutical industry can benefit from this approach especially during drug product development, where the availability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is often...

Matrix-assisted cocrystallization (MAC) simultaneous production and formulation of pharmaceutical cocrystals by hot-melt extrusion

23 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Boksa, Kevin, Otte, Andrew, Pinal, Rodolfo

A novel method for the simultaneous production and formulation of pharmaceutical cocrystals, matrix-assisted cocrystallization (MAC), is presented. Hot-melt extrusion (HME) is used to create cocrystals by coprocessing the drug and coformer in the presence of a matrix material. Carbamazepine...

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...

Formulation development of a continuously manufactured orodispersible film containing warfarin sodium for individualized dosing

23 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Niese, Svenja, Quodbach, Julian

Continuously manufactured orodispersible films (ODFs) offer a promising approach for individualized therapy with an easy to administer solid dosage form. The aim of this study was to develop a long ODF containing warfarin sodium to enable safe and more flexible dosing. Formulation development was...

Managing active pharmaceutical ingredient raw material variability during twin-screw blend feeding

23 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Stauffer, F., Vanhoorne, V., Pilcer, G., Chavez, Pierre-François, Schubert, M. A., Vervaet, C., De Beer, T.

Continuous powder feeding is a critical step in continuous manufacturing of solid dosage forms, as this unit operation should ensure the mass flow consistency at the desired powder feed rate to guarantee the process throughput and final product consistency. In this study, twin-screw feeding of a...

Cleaning of direct compression continuous manufacturing equipment through displacement of API residues by excipients

23 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Patel, Dhavalkumar S, Méndez, Rafael, Romañach, Rodolfo J

This feasibility study evaluates a cleaning process designed to avoid the use of detergents and reduce operator exposure to the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). The continuous manufacturing equipment was cleaned using excipients to displace ibuprofen residues from the system. The cleaning...

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...

Inverse Method-Based Kinetic Modelling and Process Optimization of Reverse-Phase Chromatography for Molnupiravir Synthesis

18 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Fernando Muzzio, George Tsilomelekis, Ravendra Singh, Athanasios Kritikos

Our research addresses the shift towards continuous manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on optimizing chromatographic separation for the synthesis of molnupiravir. Using an inverse method with six different inlet concentrations for a single objective function, we...

Flash Chemistry Approach to Organometallic C-Glycosylation for the Synthesis of Remdesivir

25 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Keutz, Timo von, Williams, Jason D., Kappe, C. Oliver

In a rapidly changing environment, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, continuous flow reactors bear the potential to increase the production of urgently needed active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) on demand. In the synthesis of remdesivir, the organometallic C-glycosylation step was...

Axial Chirality in the Sotorasib Drug Substance, Part 2: Leveraging a High-Temperature Thermal Racemization to Recycle the Classical Resolution Waste Stream

25 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Beaver, Matthew G., Brown, Derek B., Campbell, Kiersten, Fang, Yuan-Qing, Ford, David D., Mardirossian, Narbe, Nagy, Kevin D., Rötheli, Andreas R., Sheeran, Jillian W., Telmesani, Reem, Parsons, Andrew T.

The development and kilogram-scale demonstration of a high-temperature continuous-flow racemization process to recycle the off-enantiomer of an atropisomeric sotorasib intermediate is described. Part 1 of this two-part series details the design and execution of a classical resolution to generate...

Synthesis of the Brivaracetam Employing Asymmetric Photocatalysis and Continuous Flow Conditions

25 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Franco, Marcelo S., Silva, Rodrigo C., Rosa, Gabriel H. S., Flores, Lara M., Oliveira, Kleber T. de, Assis, Francisco F. de

An original total synthesis of the antiepileptic drug brivaracetam (BRV) is reported. The key step in the synthesis consists of an enantioselective photochemical Giese addition, promoted by visible-light and the chiral bifunctional photocatalyst Δ-RhS. Continuous flow conditions were employed to...

Development and Scale-Up of a Continuous Manufacturing Process for a Hydrazine Condensation Reaction

25 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Zhu, Ruiheng, Reddy, Ramesh, Ding, Man, Xu, Ming, Deng, Chaoyi, Tadayon, Sam, Li, Hui, Depew, Kristopher, Lane, Benjamin

The development of a continuous manufacturing process for a hydrazine condensation reaction at high temperature is reported. This continuous process represents a safer approach to manufacture 3-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-amine at scale and exhibits better impurity control compared to a traditional batch...

A Virtual Plant for Integrated Continuous Manufacturing of a Carfilzomib Drug Substance Intermediate, Part 2: Enone Synthesis via a Barbier-Type Grignard Process

25 Jun 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Içten, Elçin, Maloney, Andrew J., Beaver, Matthew G., Zhu, Xiaoxiang, Shen, Dongying E., Robinson, Jo Anna, Parsons, Andrew T., Allian, Ayman, Huggins, Seth, Hart, Roger, Rolandi, Pablo, Walker, Shawn D., Braatz, Richard D.

This article details efforts to characterize and develop a process control strategy for the manufacture of enone 2, a carfilzomib drug substance intermediate obtained through a Barbier-type Grignard reaction of morpholine amide 1. This includes the development of a novel mechanistic model for the...