Manufacturing

Many solid oral dosage forms do not dissolve at the correct place in the gastrointestinal tract for them to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Could magnets solve the problem?

Use of in-process particle size analysis has enabled pharmaceutical scientists and process engineers to track the progress of a granulation process and detect its endpoint.

There are two types of widely used dry granulation methods: slugging and roll compaction. Currently, roll compaction is preferred to slugging because it offers greater capacity and ease of process control.

In wet granulation, many companies used to rely on empirical data and quality control, but processes and technologies have improved in a variety of ways in recent years.

Pharma's manufacturing and supply chain needs a "radical overhaul" because it is underused, inefficient and ill-equipped to cope with new types of products that will be coming to market in the near future, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Gilead to Acquire Calistoga; Bayer Healthcare Appoints Former Pfizer Exec; and More.

Last Wednesday, sanofi aventis agreed to acquire Genzyme for $74 per share in cash, or approximately $20.1 billion.

President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2012, which shows an increase in funding for the US Food and Drug Administration.

Company and People Notes: sanofi to Acquire Genzyme; Lilly Makes Senior Appointments; and More.

US Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the "Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act," which is intended to help address and prevent shortages of prescription drug medications.

A major pharmaceutical micronizing company consulted Telstar when it needed a mobile, high-containment isolation system suitable for housing 4-, 8-, 12-, or 15-in. micronizing jet-mill systems during the loading, milling, and offloading processes.

My drug failed a light-obscuration test, but after I filtered the drug for microscopic particle counting, I couldn?t see any significant particulate on the filter. What might have caused the failure, and why is it not visible?

Developments during the past several years have led many industry professionals to question whether nonsterile dosage forms are being produced in a state of control.

PharmTech's monthly newsletter, Equipment and Processing Report, reviews the Editor's Picks for the February 2011 edition from Alfa Laval and GE Healthcare.

Kris Schoeters of GEA Pharma Systems explains how pharma's uptake of continuous processing is changing.

With the increasing importance of novel dosage forms, the use of release liners as components of transdermal delivery systems, oral thin films and buccal mucosal systems is on the rise.

Over the past 10 years or so, we've seen single-use technologies explode from production-scale filter capsules, tubing and simple biocontainers to encompass sterile connectors, membrane chromatography adsorbers, bioreactors, mixers, and integrated platform systems with increasing levels of sensors and automated controls.

The way in which a suspension nasal spray product interacts with the body depends not only on the droplet size of the delivered droplet, but also on the particle size of the suspended API.

Pfizer Acquires Ferrosan's Consumer Health Business; Patheon Appoints Former Biogen Exec as CEO; and More.

The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA), in a statement submitted to the US Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxic and Environmental Health, provided support for a bipartisan review of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) as that subcommittee considers reforming the  chemical control law.

Last Thursday, the US Senate scheduled the Patent Reform Act of 2011 for debate after the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill.

The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) launched a 12-month pilot Technical Assistance Program (TAP) to provide developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa with greater capacity to test the quality of medicines.

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, delivered last week on Jan. 25, 2011, to the US Congress, was largely well received by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Last Friday, Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reintroduced their "Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act," which would presume that pay-for-delay settlements were illegal and give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the power to block them.

Company and People Notes: Pfizer Completes King Tender Offer; Cook Pharmica Names VP of R&D and CSO; and More

Chemistry reviewers in FDA's Office of Generic Drugs provide an overview of common deficiencies cited throughout the CMC section of ANDAs.

Deep process characterization and "lab-on-a-chip" enable SMART bioprocess design.

Follow-ons were all the rage at this year's JP Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Industry and regulatory experts discuss the challenges and benefits of implementing real time release testing in a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.

Government and private sector efforts take on counterfeit drugs online.