Continuous Manufacturing: An Evolving Technology for Drug Substance Manufacturing

Article
Continuous flow
Drug substance

Continuous chemical manufacturing technology has been in use for more than 100 years producing high-volume commodity chemicals. However, it was not until the early 2000s that the technology caught the attention of the pharmaceutical industry in a significant way, and it has since revolutionized the production of pharmaceuticals. In our recent article in European Pharmaceutical Review, Matthew Bio, Chief Scientific Officer at Cambrex, discusses how continuous manufacturing has become integral to the pharmaceutical industry.

Key highlights include:

  • Utilization of continuous manufacturing in a hybrid approach alongside batch processing to address specific technical challenges in drug substance manufacturing.
  • Enablement of new synthetic methodologies and complex chemistries, such as organometallic reactions, unstable reagents, high-temperature reactions, and photochemistry.
  • Development of membrane technologies – techniques like tangential flow filtration, nanofiltration, and pervaporation are integrated into continuous manufacturing to enhance purification and reaction processes.
  • Expected growth of continuous manufacturing as synthetic drug substances become more complex, integrating methodologies like photochemistry and electrochemistry.

To explore detailed insights into continuous manufacturing and its full potential, download the article.