A Compact Device for the Integrated Filtration, Drying, and Mechanical Processing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Non-invasive estimation of the powder size distribution from a single speckle image

Non-invasive characterization of powders may take one of two approaches: imaging and counting individual particles; or relying on scattered light to estimate the particle size distribution (PSD) of the ensemble. The former approach runs into practical difficulties, as the system must conform to the working distance and other restrictions of the imaging optics. The latter approach requires an inverse map from the speckle autocorrelation to the particle sizes. The principle relies on the pupil function determining the basic sidelobe shape, whereas the particle size spread modulates the sidelobe intensity. We recently showed that it is feasible to invert the speckle autocorrelation and obtain the PSD using a neural network, trained efficiently through a physics-informed semi-generative approach. In this work, we eliminate one of the most time-consuming steps of our previous method by engineering the pupil function. By judiciously blocking portions of the pupil, we sacrifice some photons but in return we achieve much enhanced sidelobes and, hence, higher sensitivity to the change of the size distribution. The result is a 60 × reduction in total acquisition and processing time, or 0.25 seconds per frame in our implementation. Almost real-time operation in our system is not only more appealing toward rapid industrial adoption, it also paves the way for quantitative characterization of complex spatial or temporal dynamics in drying, blending, and other chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing processes.

Digital design of an integrated purification system for continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing

In this work dynamic models of the continuous crystallization, filtration, deliquoring, washing, and drying steps are introduced, which are developed in the open-source pharmaceutical modeling tool PharmaPy. These models enable the simulation and digital design of an integrated continuous two-stage crystallization and filtration-drying carousel system. The carousel offers an intensified process that can manufacture products with tailored properties through optimal design and control. Results show that improved crystallization design enhances overall process efficiency by improving critical material attributes of the crystal slurry for downstream filtration and drying operations. The digital design of the integrated process achieves enhanced productivity while satisfying multiple design and product quality constraints. Additionally, the impact of model uncertainty on the optimal operating conditions is investigated. The findings demonstrate the systematic process development potential of PharmaPy, providing improved process understanding, design space identification, and optimized robust operation.

Extracting particle size distribution from laser speckle with a physics-enhanced autocorrelation-based estimator (PEACE)

Extracting quantitative information about highly scattering surfaces from an imaging system is challenging because the phase of the scattered light undergoes multiple folds upon propagation, resulting in complex speckle patterns. One specific application is the drying of wet powders in the pharmaceutical industry, where quantifying the particle size distribution (PSD) is of particular interest. A non-invasive and real-time monitoring probe in the drying process is required, but there is no suitable candidate for this purpose. In this report, we develop a theoretical relationship from the PSD to the speckle image and describe a physics-enhanced autocorrelation-based estimator (PEACE) machine learning algorithm for speckle analysis to measure the PSD of a powder surface. This method solves both the forward and inverse problems together and enjoys increased interpretability, since the machine learning approximator is regularized by the physical law.

Inline purification in continuous flow synthesis – opportunities and challenges

Continuous flow technology has become the method of choice for many academic and industrial researchers when developing new routes to chemical compounds of interest. With this technology maturing over the last decades, robust and oftentimes automated processes are now commonly exploited to generate fine chemical building blocks. The integration of effective inline analysis and purification tools is thereby frequently exploited to achieve effective and reliable flow processes. This perspective article summarizes recent applications of different inline purification techniques such as chromatography, extractions, and crystallization from academic and industrial laboratories. A discussion of the advantages and drawbacks of these tools is provided as a guide to aid researchers in selecting the most appropriate approach for future applications. It is hoped that this perspective contributes to new developments in this field in the context of process and cost efficiency, sustainability and industrial uptake of new flow chemistry tools developed in academia.

Development and Commissioning of a Small-Scale, Modular and Integrated Plant for the Quasi-Continuous Production of Crystalline Particles

Increasing global competition, volatile markets and the demand for individual products challenge companies in almost all business sectors and require innovative solutions. In the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, these include modular design, the integration of several unit operations in one apparatus and the development of small-scale, versatile multipurpose plants. An example for such a modular, integrated and small-scale system is the belt crystallizer. This device combines the process steps cooling crystallization, solid-liquid separation and contact drying in a single plant. The basis of the apparatus is a belt filter in which the vacuum trays below the filter medium are replaced by temperature control and filtration units. Due to identical dimensions, it is possible to arrange the individual functional units in any order, which in turn allows a high degree of flexibility and rapid adaptation to customer requirements. Within the scope of the publication, the commissioning of the belt crystallizer takes place. First of all, the general functionality of the plant concept is demonstrated using sucrose as model system. Further experiments show that the particle size and the distribution width of the manufactured crystals can be specifically influenced by the selected process parameters, e.g., temperature profile during cooling and residence time.

Exploring the Role of Anti-solvent Effects during Washing on Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Purity

Washing is a key step in pharmaceutical isolation to remove the unwanted crystallization solvent (mother liquor) from the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) filter cake. This study looks at strategies for optimal wash solvent selection, which minimizes the dissolution of API product crystals while preventing the precipitation of product or impurities. Selection of wash solvents to avoid both these phenomena can be challenging but is essential to maintain the yield, purity, and particle characteristics throughout the isolation process. An anti-solvent screening methodology has been developed to quantitatively evaluate the propensity for precipitation of APIs and their impurities of synthesis during washing. This is illustrated using paracetamol (PCM) and two typical impurities of synthesis during the washing process. The solubility of PCM in different binary wash solutions was measured to provide a basis for wash solvent selection. A map of wash solution composition boundaries for precipitation for the systems investigated was developed to depict where anti-solvent phenomena will take place. For some crystallization and wash solvent combinations investigated, as much as 90% of the dissolved PCM and over 10% of impurities present in the PCM saturated mother liquor were found to precipitate out. Such levels of uncontrolled crystallization during washing in a pharmaceutical isolation process can have a drastic effect on the final product purity. Precipitation of both the product and impurities from the mother liquor can be avoided by using a solvent in which the API has a solubility similar to that in the mother liquor; for example, the use of acetonitrile as a wash solvent does not result in precipitation of either the PCM API or its impurities. However, the high solubility of PCM in acetonitrile would result in noticeable dissolution of API during washing and would lead to agglomeration during the subsequent drying step. Contrarily, the use of n-heptane as a wash solvent for a PCM crystal slurry resulted in the highest amount of precipitation among the solvent pairs evaluated. This can be mitigated by designing a multi-stage washing strategy where wash solutions of differing wash solvent concentrations are used to minimize step changes in solubility when the mother liquor and the wash solvent come into contact.

Impact of Critical Material Attributes (CMAs)-Particle Shape on Miniature Pharmaceutical Unit Operations

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emphasizes drug product development by Quality by Design (QbD). Critical material attributes (CMAs) are a QbD element that has an impact on pharmaceutical operations and product quality. Pharmaceutical drugs often crystallize as needle-shaped (a CMA) particles and affect the process due to poor flowability, low bulk density, and high compressibility, and eventually the product performance. In this study, the product obtained from crystallization was needle-shaped Ciprofloxacin HCl (CIPRO), formed lumps during drying, and compacted during processing through feeders. To delump small amounts of materials and break the needles, multiple available devices (mortar-pestle, Krups grinder) and custom-made grinder were assessed before formulation. The processed CIPRO powder was then used to make tablets in the miniature tablet manufacturing unit developed by the team at MIT. The critical quality attributes (CQA) of the tablets, set by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), were then assessed for the drug powder processed with each of these devices. Powder properties comparable to commercial CIPRO were obtained when the custom MIT-designed grinder was used, leading to tablets that meet the USP criteria, with comparable dissolution profiles of those for marketed CIPRO tablets. This study demonstrates how needle-shaped crystals have an impact on pharmaceutical operations, even if it is on a miniature scale, and how proper shape and subsequent flow properties can be obtained by processing the particles through the MIT team-designed grinder.

Working within the Design Space: Do Our Static Process Characterization Methods Suffice?

The Process Analytical Technology initiative and Quality by Design paradigm have led to changes in the guidelines and views of how to develop drug manufacturing processes. On this occasion the concept of the design space, which describes the impact of process parameters and material attributes on the attributes of the product, was introduced in the ICH Q8 guideline. The way the design space is defined and can be presented for regulatory approval seems to be left to the applicants, among who at least a consensus on how to characterize the design space seems to have evolved. The large majority of design spaces described in publications seem to follow a "static" statistical experimentation and modeling approach. Given that temporal deviations in the process parameters (i.e., moving within the design space) are of a dynamic nature, static approaches might not suffice for the consideration of the implications of variations in the values of the process parameters. In this paper, different forms of design space representations are discussed and the current consensus is challenged, which in turn, establishes the need for a dynamic representation and characterization of the design space. Subsequently, selected approaches for a dynamic representation, characterization and validation which are proposed in the literature are discussed, also showcasing the opportunity to integrate the activities of process characterization, process monitoring and process control strategy development.