New drugs pull continuous process manufacturing into the batch-dominated world of pharmaceuticals

New drugs pull continuous process manufacturing into the batch-dominated world of pharmaceuticals

by  Rick Mullin 

April 28, 2019 | APPEARED IN  VOLUME 97, ISSUE 17

Abstract:

“It’s called a BHAG,” says Hayden Thomas, divulging a term popular among chemical engineers at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where Thomas is vice president of formulation development. “A big, hairy, audacious goal.” In his case it was committing to continuous process manufacturing for all new products in development. As Thomas prepared in 2011 to pitch the idea to the top brass at Vertex, he knew it would be a long shot. After all, the pharmaceutical industry has resisted continuous processes, even though virtually all other industries have replaced step-by-step batch manufacturing over the past 2 centuries. Highly profitable and ultraconservative, the drug industry has traditionally held back on investing in any transformative production or information technology despite solid evidence of benefits. In the case of continuous process manufacturing, benefits include lower costs, lower waste, higher yield, and higher quality. Such processes also allow ready application of complex and hazardous chemistries and muchNew drugs pull continuous process manufacturing into the batch-dominated world of pharmaceuticals

Click  https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/cen-09717-cover to read the full text.

Source: C&EN, 2019, 97 (17), pp 28–33April 29, 2019