Advancements in personalized medicine and other innovations are transforming the way dosage forms are viewed.

Reshaping Dosage Forms

This study aimed to develop a taste-masked drug resin complex using the ion exchange resin Kyron T-114.

Development of Taste-Masked Oral Dispersible Tablets of Cefpodoxime Proxetil

Novel genetic engineering technologies are transforming the design and manufacture of bispecific antibodies, which are emerging as a promising new class of biologics.

Frontrunners in Bispecific Antibodies

Topic

Hallie Forcinio is packing editor for Pharmaceutical Technology and Pharmaceutical Technology Europe, editorhal@sbcglobal.net.

Articles

Bringing Exubera to market requires extensive collaboration by Pfizer, Nektar Therapeutics, West Pharmaceutical Services Tech Group, and Bespak.

Special Packaging Delivers Inhaled Insulin

Using Bezier curves, an experimental process controller has been developed for biosynthesis applications in which the inactivity of a pH-sensitive enzyme must be decreased. By taking into account various control scenarios of pH and growth rate, as well as the physical and chemical characteristics of the environment, a suitable human-machine interface can be developed.  

An Approach Using Bezier Curves to Control pH and Decrease Enzyme Inactivity

James E. Akers is the president of Akers Kennedy & Associates, PO Box 22562, Kansas City, MO 64113, akainckc@aol.com.

James P. Agalloco is the president of Agalloco & Associates, P.O. Box 899, Belle Mead, NJ 08502, tel. 908.874.7558, jagalloco@aol.com. He is also a member of Pharmaceutical Technology’s editorial advisory board.

Any aseptic processing technology that allows intervention by gowned personnel during operation cannot be considered an advanced technology. Although a standardized definition of restricted access barrier systems has been developed, these systems fall well short of being classfied as advanced technologies. 

RABS and Advanced Aseptic Processing

Yasusuke Oshima is senior chief engineer at RP System Division, Shibuya Kogyo Co., Ltd.

The industry has acknowledged only recently the significance of the contamination risk posed by humans. The authors assert that this realization, together with technological advances, will lead to the elimination of human intervention and, hence, improved sterility. 

The Next Generation of Aseptic Processing Equipment

There are few, if any, valid reasons not to install an isolator in a new aseptic processing facility. 

Thinking Inside the Box: The Application of Isolation Technology for Aseptic Processing

Bang & Olufsen Medicom (Copenhagen, Denmark, www.medicom.bang-olufsen.com), a drug-delivery device solutions provider, and Bespak (Milton Keynes, UK, www.bespak.com), a medical-devices and inhalation-valve technologies company, established an exclusive partnership to codevelop and comarket the ?Assist Actuated Inhaler,? a single-increment, dose-counting inhaler. The integrated device features an assisted firing mechanism for easier patient use, according to a company release.

Device Companies Unite for a Better Inhaler

Patricia Van Arnum was executive editor of Pharmaceutical Technology.

Novartis (Basel, Switzerland) has closed on its $5.4-billion acquisition of Chiron Corporation (Emeryville, CA), paving the way for the creation of a new Novartis division focusing on vaccines and diagnostics.

Novartis Creates New Vaccines Division Following Close of Chiron Deal

This review article discusses orally disintegrating tablets and their manufacturing technologies, development issues, and future trends.

Orally Disintegrating Tablets

The common crystal form of ibuprofen was changed to optimize processing and manufacturing properties. Six modified crystal forms were prepared and assessed for dissolution, morphology, particle size, density, thermal characteristics, powder x-ray diffractometry, flow properties, and tabletability.

Improving the Physical and Chemical Properties of Ibuprofen

Sandoz (Holzkirchen, Germany), the generics division of Novartis (Basel, Switzerland) received European marketing authorization for its recombinant human growth hormone, ?Omnitrope? (somatropin), making it the first biogeneric product approved under the biosimilar pathway of the European Commission.