Pharmaceutical Technology Europe-07-01-2006

The hydrophilic matrix system continues to be the most popular and widely used strategy to achieve extended drug release. Hypromellose (hydroxypropylmethylcellulose [HPMC]) is typically the polymer of choice for the rate-controlling carrier in these systems.

The creation in the Paris Region of a multidisciplinary Institute of Technology will bring together the best researchers in world, innovative SMEs and the research centres of large industrial groups.

Although it has recently been surpassed by Mexico in terms of value, the Brazilian pharmaceutical market remains of key importance to companies establishing themselves in Latin America. The Brazilian government has focused heavily on improving the healthcare system and this should lead to long-term benefits for its citizens. The Ministry of Health has also attempted to decentralize the management of the healthcare system to more regional and local levels. This has been necessary to account for the different healthcare priorities in different parts of the country.

One of the biggest barriers research and academic institutions face is the ability to get discoveries made in the lab into clinical testing. Because only small amounts of drugs are used in these early studies, they represent fewer potential risks for people in these trials.

Constraints associated with equipment can make scale-down a challenging exercise.

The big challenge for pharmaceutical companies is to mathematically model their production processes, combining both data from the laboratory and the production process.