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...

Automated and continuous synthesis of drug substances

24 Apr 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Sacher, Stephan, Castillo, Ismael, Rehrl, Jakob, Sagmeister, Peter, Lebl, René, Kruisz, Julia, Celikovic, Selma, Sipek, Martin, Williams, Jason D., Kirschneck, Dirk, Kappe, C. Oliver, Horn, Martin

A continuous synthesis line was developed integrating different common reaction steps namely nitration, substitution and hydrogenation. Mesalazine as model drug substance was produced from 2-chlorobenzoic acid in continuous flow mode. A multi-instrument PAT strategy was implemented to equip the...

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...

Videometric mass flow control: A new method for real-time measurement and feedback control of powder micro-feeding based on image analysis

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Madarasz, L, Kote, AGyurkes, M, Farkas, A, Hambalko, B, Pataki, H, Fulop, G, Marosi, G, Lengyel, L, Casian, T, Csorba, K, Nagy, ZK

The present paper reports the first monitoring and control of ultra-low dose powder feeding using a camera image-based mass flow measurement system. Caffeine was fed via a single-screw microfeeder as a model active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). The mass, mass flow and sizes of the particles...

Using Residence Time Distributions (RTDs) to Address the Traceability of Raw Materials in Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Engisch, William, Muzzio, Fernando

Continuous processing in pharmaceutical manufacturing is a relatively new approach that has generated significant attention. While it has been used for decades in other industries, showing significant advantages, the pharmaceutical industry has been slow in its adoption of continuous processing,...

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 Future of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Sciences

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Rantanen, Jukka, Khinast Johannes

The entire pharmaceutical sector is in an urgent need of both innovative technological solutions and fundamental scientific work, enabling the production of highly engineered drug products. Commercial-scale manufacturing of complex drug delivery systems (DDSs) using the existing technologies is...

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...

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...

Roller compaction: Infrared thermography as a PAT for monitoring powder flow from feeding to compaction zone

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Yu, Mingzhe, Omar, Chalak, Weidemann, Marcus, Schmidt, Alexander, Litster, James D., Salman, Agba D.

Roller compaction is a continuous dry granulation process, in which powder is compressed by two counter-rotating rollers. During this process, the powder feeding to the compaction zone has a significant effect on product quality. This work investigates the flow of powder from the feeding zone to...

Real-time feedback control of twin-screw wet granulation based on image analysis

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Madarasz, Lajos, Hoffer, Istvan, Szabo, Barnabas, Csontos, Istvan, Pataki, Hajnalka, Demuth, Balazs, Szabo, Bence, Csorba, Kristof, Nagy, Zsombor Kristof, Marosi, Gyorgy

The present paper reports the first dynamic image analysis-based feedback control of continuous twin-screw wet granulation process. Granulation of the blend of lactose and starch was selected as a model process. The size and size distribution of the obtained particles were successfully monitored...

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

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

Reactor design and selection for effective continuous manufacturing of pharmaceuticals

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

Raman Spectroscopy for Monitoring the Continuous Crystallization of Carbamazepine

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Acevedo, D, Mohammad, Adil, Pavurala, Naresh, Wu, Wei-Lee, O'Connor, Thomas F., Nagy, Zoltan K, Yang, Xiaochuan, Cruz, CN

Crystallization has a significant impact on the properties of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) since it is the final step in the manufacturing of the drug substance and determines particle size distribution, purity, shape, and polymorphs. Many publications have focused on the...

Process analytical technology in continuous manufacturing of a commercial pharmaceutical product

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Vargas, Jenny, Nielsen, Sarah, Cárdenas, Vanessa, Gonzalez, Anthony, Aymat, Efrain, Almodovar, Elvin, Classe, Gustavo, Colón, Yleana, Sanchez, Eric, Romañach, Rodolfo

The implementation of process analytical technology and continuous manufacturing at an FDA approved commercial manufacturing site is described. In this direct compaction process the blends produced were monitored with a Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopic calibration model developed with partial...

PAT Implementation on a Mobile Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing System: Real-Time Process Monitoring with In-Line FTIR and Raman Spectroscopy

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Miyai, Yuma, Formosa, Anna, Armstrong, Cameron, Marquardt, Brian, Rogers, Luke, Roper, Thomas

The strategies and experimental methods for implementation of process analytical technology (PAT) on the mobile pharmaceutical manufacturing system, Pharmacy on Demand (PoD), are discussed. With multiple processes to be monitored on the PoD end-to-end continuous manufacturing process, PAT and its...