Control strategy definition for a drug product continuous wet granulation process: Industrial case study

Pharmaceutical Application of Process Understanding and Optimization Techniques: A Review on the Continuous Twin-Screw Wet Granulation

Twin-screw wet granulation (TSWG) is a method of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing and a potential alternative method to batch granulation processes. It has attracted more and more interest nowadays due to its high efficiency, robustness, and applications. To improve both the product quality and process efficiency, the process understanding is critical. This article reviews the recent work in process understanding and optimization for TSWG. Various aspects of the progress in TSWG like process model construction, process monitoring method development, and the strategy of process control for TSWG have been thoroughly analyzed and discussed. The process modeling technique including the empirical model, the mechanistic model, and the hybrid model in the TSWG process are presented to increase the knowledge of the granulation process, and the influence of process parameters involved in granulation process on granule properties by experimental study are highlighted. The study analyzed several process monitoring tools and the associated technologies used to monitor granule attributes. In addition, control strategies based on process analytical technology (PAT) are presented as a reference to enhance product quality and ensure the applicability and capability of continuous manufacturing (CM) processes. Furthermore, this article aims to review the current research progress in an effort to make recommendations for further research in process understanding and development of TSWG.

Emerging analytical techniques for pharmaceutical quality control: Where are we in 2022?

Quality control is a fundamental and critical activity in the pharmaceutical industry that guarantees the quality of medicines. QC analyses are currently performed using several well-known techniques, mainly liquid and gas chromatography. However, current trends are focused on the development of new techniques to reduce analysis time and cost, to improve the performances and decrease ecological footprint. In this context, analytical scientists developed and studied emerging technologies based on spectroscopy and chromatography. The present review aims to give an overview of the recent development of vibrational spectroscopy, supercritical fluid chromatography and multi-dimensional chromatography. Selected emerging techniques are discussed using SWOT analysis and published pharmaceutical QC applications are discussed.