Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - June 2010 - (Page 3)

Tablet compression: changing trends, more demands The market for tablet compression technology and the demands placed on equipment manufacturers have changed quite significantly in recent years. This has been driven by a number of factors, including: • A shift of investments in solid dosage production equipment towards generics and contract manufacturing where companies are strongly focused on cost reduction. • Because of the meteoric growth of new pharmaceutical markets, such as China and India, investments in solid dosage equipment in these regions now surpass those made in North America and Europe. This has resulted in several Western based companies moving the design, manufacture and assembly of their equipment to Asia. • The increased potency of new APIs has created a need for better protection of the operator against the effects of pharmaceutical product processing. The preferred solution to achieve this is to make the equipment highly contained. Technology breakthroughs Although the operating principle and fundamental design of the rotary tablet press have not changed for decades, multiple machine design improvements have been developed to reduce cost and lead time, and more importantly, to increase productivity, flexibility and safety performance. The last 10 years have also seen a significant effort to design complete tablet production lines to handle potent and toxic drugs. The main shortcoming of modern tablet presses is their lack of advanced process control. Most tablet presses are equipped with only one feedback control loop, which is based on main compression force measurement as an indirect estimation of tablet weight. Only very few new methods of process control and new types of sensors are being offered for on-line Jan Vogeleer GEA Courtoy tablet quality. This is one of the basic requirements to help realise two crucially important new concepts, which will shape the future of solid dosage production: continuous processing and real-time release. The implementation of new control strategies and the implementation of new types of sensors into tablet presses are vital means to this end. With the advent of promising new devices such as NIR sensors, progress is being made, but these are just the early stages of the new developments that are required. PTE monitoring and controlling of other tablet CQAs, such as hardness, API content and dissolution time. Where to next? The pharma industry will continue to push for a further increase in operational efficiency. Most of all, future developments should focus on advanced process control to guarantee improved and constant Based on a contribution by Jan Vogeleer, Managing Director at GEA Courtoy. To read the full version of this article, go to www.pharmtech.com/vogeleer www.courtoy.be 1 CONTENTS 7 CONTINUOUS PROCESSES 3 CHANGING TRENDS 8 COATING CHALLENGES 4 EQUIPMENT PROBLEMS 10 CODING TECHNOLOGIES 5 GRANULATION 12 TOP TECHNOLOGIES http://www.pharmtech.com/vogeleer http://www.courtoy.be

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - June 2010

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - June 2010
Contents
Find Out What PTE Readers Feel Are the Most Common Problems Encountered with Their Tabletting Equipment.
Tablet Compression: Changing Trends, More Demands
Tabletting Equipment: Common Problems and How to Avoid Them
Granulation: Evolving Slowly But Surely
Drying: Moving from Batch to Continuous Processes
Challenges in Coating
Flexible Blending
Coding Technologies: Breaking Down the Barriers
Inspection Technologies Update
Twelve Latest Technologies Showcased

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - June 2010