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Advertisement

Innovations and Future Trends in HPLC Column Technology

August 1, 2014
By Ron Majors
Article

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe

Pharmaceutical Technology EuropePharmaceutical Technology Europe-08-01-2014
Volume 26
Issue 8

Developments in chromatography column technology to deliver greater efficiency, speed and inertness benefit the drug development process from discovery to manufacturing and quality control.

From QC to QbD and Beyond

Analytical technologies and bio/pharmaceutical process developmenthave advanced in parallel through necessity and innovation.

An average high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instrument uses 6-8 columns per year; as the number of instruments grows, so does the market for columns. The overall market for columns (analytical, preparative/process, capillary/nano, bulk packing, and accessories) is now estimated to be $1.3 billion with an overall growth of 3.5% (1). Growth in the high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) segment is higher. Developments in column technology to deliver greater efficiency, speed and inertness benefit the drug development process from discovery to manufacturing and quality control.

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe25th Anniversary Issue

For new methods, superficially porous particle (SPP) columns have become the favoured column type in pharmaceutical laboratories thanks to the lower pressure, enhanced efficiency and equal loadability offered in comparison to smaller totally porous particles. The development of even smaller SPP particles can also be anticipated. If SPP columns continue to dominate, the need to further increase instrument pressure limits may not be necessary, but in chromatography, pressure is always a useful commodity.

If researchers are able to improve efficiency without great increases in backpressure and can make longer length columns for difficult separations, monolithic columns will still have great promise. In particular, polymeric monoliths could be quite attractive because their wider operating range gives them some advantages. Monoliths may become the favoured approach for laboratory-on-a-chip systems since they can be synthesized in situ inside the narrow channels where efficient packing of particulates may prove exceedingly difficult.

With its orthogonal separation power, supercritical-fluid chromatography (SFC) has made a comeback in the rapid analysis of small pharmaceutical compounds. Initially, SFC made its contributions in the preparative arena for chiral drugs but now has been applied to more general small molecule applications. For many separations, SFC can be superior to HPLC/UHPLC, especially in the speed of analysis. The phases used for SFC are different than those used for liquid chromatography so additional polar phases are required to exploit this technology.

The trend in the use of monoclonal antibodies and peptide-based compounds in drug development requires columns capable of providing high recovery separations of biologically derived compounds, oligonucleotides and biosimilars, both neat and in biological fluids. Column manufacturers are already responding with biocompatible columns that provide more selective separations with higher recovery.

Reference
1. SDi, Global Assessment Report, 2012-2016, (Los Angeles, October 2012).

About the Author
Ron Majors is a senior scientist consultant for Agilent Technologies.

Articles in this issue

Serialisation, Aggregation and Authentication
Serialisation, Aggregation and Authentication
Single-Use Systems: Enabling the Future of Biologics Manufacturing
Single-Use Systems: Enabling the Future of Biologics Manufacturing
PTE0814_Cover200-851014-1416901564315.jpg
Protecting Drug Safety
Trends in Single-Use Biomanufacturing
Trends in Single-Use Biomanufacturing
Polymers for Solubility Enhancement
Polymers for Solubility Enhancement
Innovations and Future Trends in HPLC Column Technology
Innovations and Future Trends in HPLC Column Technology
Advances in Film Coating
Advances in Film Coating
Biosimilar Development: 10 Years On
Biosimilar Development: 10 Years On
Single-Use: Game-Changing Technology for the Biopharmaceutical Industry
Single-Use: Game-Changing Technology for the Biopharmaceutical Industry
Supply-Chain Security of Pharmaceutical Starting Materials
Supply-Chain Security of Pharmaceutical Starting Materials
Maturing Aseptic Technologies Create More Flexible Facilities
Maturing Aseptic Technologies Create More Flexible Facilities
Trends in Tablet Tooling
Trends in Tablet Tooling
Technology and QbD Drive Pharma Development
Technology and QbD Drive Pharma Development
PTE0814_Cover200-851015-1416901560801.jpg
Advances in Prefilled Syringe Manufacturing
Collaboration and Innovation in European Medicine Regulation
Collaboration and Innovation in European Medicine Regulation
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