Demonstration of the Feasibility of Predicting the Flow of Pharmaceutically Relevant Powders from Particle and Bulk Physical Properties

Purpose Understanding and predicting the flow of bulk pharmaceutical materials could be key in enabling pharmaceutical manufacturing by continuous direct compression (CDC). This study examines whether, by taking powder and bulk measurements, and using statistical modelling, it would be possible to p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pharmaceutical innovation 2021-03, Vol.16 (1), p.181-196
Main Authors: Barjat, Hervé, Checkley, Stephen, Chitu, Toma, Dawson, Neil, Farshchi, Amin, Ferreira, Ana, Gamble, John, Leane, Michael, Mitchell, Andy, Morris, Chris, Pitt, Kendal, Storey, Richard, Tahir, Furqan, Tobyn, Mike
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biochemical Engineering
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Biotechnology
Industrial and Production Engineering
Original Article
Pharmacology/Toxicology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Purpose Understanding and predicting the flow of bulk pharmaceutical materials could be key in enabling pharmaceutical manufacturing by continuous direct compression (CDC). This study examines whether, by taking powder and bulk measurements, and using statistical modelling, it would be possible to predict the flow of a range of materials likely to be used in CDC. Methods More than 100 materials were selected for study, from four pharmaceutical companies. Particle properties were measured by static image analysis, powder surface area and surface energy techniques, and flow by shear cell measurements. The data was then analysed, and a range of statistical modelling techniques were used to build predictive models for flow. Results Using the results from static image analysis, a model could be built which allowed the prediction of likely flow in a shear cell, which can be related to performance in a CDC system. Only a small amount of powder was required for the image analysis. Surface area did not add to the precision of the model, and the available surface energy technique did not correlate with flow. Conclusions A small sample of powder can be examined by static image analysis, and this data can be used to give an early read on likely flow of a material in a CDC system or other pharmaceutical process, allowing early intervention (if necessary) to improve the characteristics of a material, early in development.
ISSN:1872-5120
1939-8042
DOI:10.1007/s12247-020-09433-5