Pharmaceutical Technology Europe-03-01-2003

As the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strives to streamline its regulatory process for bringing new drugs to market (see sidebar "Manufacturing data key to spurring drug development"), efforts to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of dietary supplements and herbal medicines are gaining more attention.

The tabletting properties of a new coprocessed excipient for direct compression were compared with a physical mixture of its components (separately and with drugs) and the individual constituents. The compaction properties were also investigated. Results indicated that the new excipient has excellent flow properties and demonstrates enhanced compressibility.

Brussels report

Flow problems, such as process performance and reliability, can be improved using a combination of experimental and computational methods.

Interest in more advanced drug delivery systems has increased, with an acceleration in the discovery and development of novel therapeutic macromolecules for targeted applications. Computational fluid dynamics is a design tool that allows producers of these and other products to evaluate different models rapidly and cost-effectively.

When planning the installation of a new stainless steel process pipeline, it is important to understand the significance of using the best possible materials and techniques to ensure it is clean when installed. This article examines the factors that must be considered when planning and constructing a new process line.

The renewal of European regulations regarding pharmaceutical process validation in autumn 2001 has been the subject of much discussion. The purpose of this article is to summarize and review the development of pharmaceutical process validation, and demonstrate how industry opinion regarding the concept has shifted from that of a regulatory burden to something driving total quality management and cost benefits.