Manufacturing

PTE interviews Accu-Break's David Beach about using multilayer technology to create accurate breakable tablets and flexible fixed-dose combination drugs.

Fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) reduce the number of pills that must be taken, but they have also been a topic of concern, mainly because of the perceived potential for increased adverse events. PTE speaks with researchers to explore the benefits and concerns of FDCs.

Multilayer tablets: A piece of cake or just a passing fad? We bring experts together to find out.

Multilayer tablets can be challenging, but meeting regulatory expectations is crucial. We speak with Vilayat Sayeed from the FDA, to find out more about the critical factors that need to be fully understood.

Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have announced separate agreements with the GAVI Alliance to supply pneumococcal vaccines to developing countries. Pneumococcal disease can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis, and is one of leading causes of death in children under the age of five in developing countries.

Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have announced separate agreements with the GAVI Alliance to supply pneumococcal vaccines to developing countries.

Last week, the US Department of Health and Human Services and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics dedicated a manufacturing plant that can create influenza vaccine using cultured animal cells instead of the conventional expression system of fertilized eggs.

We have several tablet formulations that are dwell-sensitive-they require more time under compression than other formulations. Given increasing demand, we do not have the luxury of slowing the tablet presses down in an effort to increase that dwell time. How can we maximize dwell time and maintain or increase output in our tablet presses?

PharmTech's monthly newsletter, Equipment and Processing Report, reviews the Editor's Picks for the December 2011 edition from Banner Engineering and Eriez.

Sterilization or sanitization is usually applied to kill bacteria in a system. Equipment is cleaned to remove residues from the previous batch of product, and subsequently flushed to remove the cleaning liquids. To ensure that sterilization and cleaning are efficient and safe, it is not enough to develop the appropriate procedures. Selecting the right manufacturing equipment further improves cost efficiency, as well as patient safety.

Risk assessment is not a new concept to the pharmaceutical industry, but lately the phrase has become a mantra. A systemic, science-based way to manage risk is becoming essential to meeting the spirit and letter of FDA requirements.

On Dec. 6, 2011, FDA announced that a public meeting will be held on Dec. 16, 2011 to discuss recommendations for a user fee program for biosimilar biological products for fiscal years 2013–2017.

Cultivating a productive investment environment will require partnerships with a range of stakeholders.

Expansion activity was limited as fine-chemical producers and CMOs of API and intermediates grapple with changing industry fundamentals.

Cleanliness is crucial, even if zapping and trapping is necessary to reduce product contamination.

The seventh in a series of eight case studies from the Product Quality Research Institute focuses on packout remedies.

As the excipient supply chain becomes more complex, industry must up the ante to comply with new standards and regulations.

Added responsibilities and outside concerns prompt overhaul of agency's structure.

New product reviews for December 2011, focusing on manufacturing.

Contract organizations must have highly organized teams and plans to accommodate today's audits.

Drug shortages, supply-chain security, generic-drug incursion, and flexible manufacturing models are some of the issues shaping the bio/pharma industry.

Political leaders need to consider the impact of the biopharmaceutical industry on the economy.

Packaging is indeed headed to be a lead sector in the Asian pharmaceutical environment, but certain challenges must first be overcome.

A Q&A with Deborah Tanner, executive vice-president and group president of R&D laboratories at Covance, on recent industry trends.

The authors developed a metronidazole-based floating drug-delivery system to investigate the effect of rate-controlling polymers on release pattern and duration of buoyancy in matrix tablets.