Susan Haigney

CDMOs announced expansions, exhibitors showcased automated equipment, and supply chain strategy discussions were a focus at CPHI Milan 2026.

Mitigating nitrosamine risk requires assessing each product individually and chasing zero nitrite in pharmaceutical excipients is often impractical and costly.

In October, FDA reorganized rare disease development around a fit-for-purpose framework and a new pathway for individualized gene editing. Regulators in Europe and the UK set out long-term plans for clinical trials, AI, and moving away from animal testing.

The PharmTech team focused on its coverage of AAPS PharmSci 360 this week, conducting interviews with experts on a range of topics including formulation platforms, AI, amorphous solid dispersions, and animal studies.

The agreement between CDER and OII with allow for coordinated marketing application assessments and inspections.

Nitin Kumar Swarnakar, PhD, global application lab manager at BASF, talks about spray drying for drying amorphous solid dispersions and Raman spectroscopy’s role as a quantitative analytical tool.

Aleksandra Zuraw, senior veterinary pathologist at Charles River, discusses how chain of custody, good laboratory practice, quality control, and validation are applied to digital pathology data used in drug development.

Vibha Jawa, PhD, chief scientific officer at EpiVax, discusses the limitations of current preclinical testing approaches and how new approach methodologies can strengthen drug development.

Vibha Jawa, PhD, chief scientific officer at EpiVax, explains why the need for animal studies varies by modality and what it takes for organ-on-chip and other human-relevant models to replace these studies in IND-enabling toxicology work.

Sanjay Konagurthu, PhD, senior director of Science and Innovation at Thermo Fisher Scientific, explains what teams need to do to ensure the usefulness of AI and what strides have been made with AI in regulatory submissions.

The new initiative aims to apply traceable AI and science to expand care worldwide by translating discovery into tools that accelerate drug development.

Sanjay Konagurthu, PhD, senior director, Science and Innovation at Thermo Fisher Scientific, provides an update on the progress of AI and machine learning used in drug delivery.

Shubhajit Paul, a senior research fellow in Boehringer Ingelheim’s Department of Material Analytical Sciences, spoke with PharmTech at AAPS PharmSci 360 to explain how tabletability prediction can be improved for roller-compacted formulations.

This week on PharmTech.com, experts discussed E&L suitability standards, rare disease treatment development, sourcing ingredient suppliers, the use of AI in quality control, and more.

Nate Edwards of Arya Consulting moderates a discussion with Elisabeth Gardiner of Tevard Biosciences and Donny Xu of the RTW Institute about the regulatory and manufacturing hurdles facing rare disease drug developers.

Jane Zhang of ETCH Sourcing explains why geopolitics, transparency, and partnership now weigh as heavily as cost and quality when companies choose suppliers, in this episode of Ask the Expert, moderated by Susan J. Schniepp of Nelson Labs.

Ravi Kiran Kaja, PhD, USP, explains what harmonization of extractables and leachables standards looks like in practice.

Ravi Kiran Kaja, PhD, explains how USP’s industry-wide initiative aims to build confidence in trace-level extractables and leachables results.

AI accountability, faster FDA pathways, rare disease CMC review, and next-gen GLP-1 formulation lead this week’s PharmTech roundup.

This week, drug formulation and manufacturing experts showcased their knowledge, and companies exhibited their products, at CPHI Milan.

Susan J. Schniepp, distinguished fellow with Nelson Labs, and Siegfried Schmitt, PhD, vice president, Technical, with Parexel, clear up some of the confusion about what does and does not need to be complied with regarding standards set by international pharmacopoeias.

Mitigating nitrosamine risk requires assessing each product individually, says Bram Baert, Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at Capsugel, and Sandrine Picco, Senior Analytical Specialist on Capsugel's Innovaform Accelerator Team, in this interview with PharmTech.

Jason Bertola, executive director of Commercial Development for the Advanced Synthesis Platform at Lonza in North America, explains the demand for spray drying and the hurdles involved with scale up, in an interview with PharmTech.

The company is showcasing new development solutions and advanced digital technologies including its new OSD Express and Steriles Express solutions for drug development.

The winners of the CPHI Pharma Awards 2026 include a neurodegeneration platform, a track-and-trace packaging innovation, a enzymatic mRNA manufacturing technology, and a cell-free enzymatic biomanufacturing platform.

This week on PharmTech, Merck diversified its pipeline, USP emphasizes supply chain security, AI systems are examined, and speakers preview their presentations at CPHI Milan and AAPS PharmSci 360.

Capsugel's Bram Baert and Sandrine Picco argue that chasing zero nitrite in pharmaceutical excipients is often impractical and costly. They recommend setting scientifically justified, risk-based limits and consistently staying below them.

The FDA opened an expedited IND pilot, tightened scrutiny of foreign trial data, and finalized a rule recognizing non-animal testing methods. In Europe, the EMA advanced pharmaceutical legislation reform, restricted 2 legacy products, and opened an injectable-iron safety review.

Gene manufacturing platforms, patient-centric formulations, contract services, packaging innovations, and sterile filling lines are in the spotlight at CPHI Milan 2026.

Michael Levy, senior vice president, Digital & Innovation, USP, explains the digital supply chain in a preview of his upcoming CPHI Milan panel presentation, The Next Phase of Pharma Supply Chains.