Nils Bostijn

Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Process Analytical Technology

Ottergemsesteenweg 460
B-9000 Gent (Belgium)
Tel.: +32-9-264.83.55
Fax: +32-9-222.82.36
E-mail: Nils.Bostijn@UGent.be
Education: Pharmacist (Master in Drug Development)

PAT for batchwise and continuous production of semi-solids and liquids

Traditionally the production of pharmaceutical semi-solids and liquids has been a batch-wise process. However, the pharmaceutical industry is driven to make the switch to continuous processes due to the increasing financial pressure, the advantages of continuous production (enhanced product quality, avoiding scale-up problems, ...) and the encouragement of the regulatory authorities. In other industries, such as food and petroleum, continuous processes are often used.

The batch-wise production uses time-consuming and inefficient off-line laboratory tests conducted on randomly collected samples to evaluate the product quality. It is obvious that these off-line measurements undo the advantages of continuous production. Therefore, it is important to implement Process Analytical Technology (PAT)-tools in the system to obtain critical process and product information during the continuous process, as well as to understand the behavior of the material in the process environment.

The objective of this project is to develop production technology for the continuous production of pharmaceutical semi-solids and liquids, as well as the implementation of PAT-tools to monitor the process and product parameters during the continuous process and to understand the behavior of the processed material during the production process.