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.

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...

The Use of a Closed Feed Frame for the Development of Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Calibration Model to Determine Drug Concentration

23 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Movilla-Meza, Nathaly A., Sierra-Vega, Nobel O., Alvarado-Hernández, Bárbara B., Méndez, Rafael, Romañach, Rodolfo J.

Purpose: This study evaluates the use of the closed feed frame as a material sparing approach to develop near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic calibration models for monitoring blend uniformity. The effect of shear induced by recirculation on NIR spectra was also studied. Methods: Calibration models...

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...

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

23 Jul 2024 | Peer-reviewed journal | 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...

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...

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...

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...

Compact NMR Spectroscopy for Automated Continuous-Flow Production of Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals (On-Demand)

31 Jan 2024 | Seminars | Contributor(s): Klas Meyer

Chemical companies are under constant pressure to improve productivity while cutting costs. Flexible and modular chemical plants can produce high-quality products using multi-purpose equipment with short downtimes, reducing time to market for new products. Intensified continuous production...

MOOC I Control Strategy - Process Control

29 Nov 2023 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s): RCPE

MOOC I Control Strategy - Examples

29 Nov 2023 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s): RCPE

MOOC I Control Strategy - Introduction

29 Nov 2023 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s): RCPE

MOOC I Control Strategy - Quality Control

29 Nov 2023 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s): RCPE

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...

Why We Need Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and How to Make It Happen

09 Jun 2023 | Peer-reviewed journal | Contributor(s): Clive Badman, Charles L.Cooney, Alastair Florence, Konstantin Konstantinov, Markus Krumme, Salvatore Mascia, Moheb Nasr, Bernhardt L. Trout

We make the case for why continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing is essential, what the barriers are, and how to overcome them. To overcome them, government action is needed in terms of tax incentives or regulatory incentives that affect time.

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...

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,...

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...