Research Associates

Cameron Brown

Supervisor: Professor Alastair Florence
Home University: University of Strathclyde

Title of project: Developing Workflows for Continuous Crystallisation
Project outline: This project’s aim is to establish the procedures required for the development of a crystallisation process for pharmaceutical related compounds. My role in this is around the implementation of computer aided process design tools for the characterization and modelling of crystallisers to enable efficient resource usage. These tools include: computational fluid dynamics, population balance and plant flow sheeting. I’m also responsible for the implementation and usage of pilot scale modular crystallisation units.
Key words: continuous crystallisation, modelling, modular pilot plants

Email: cameron.brown.100@strath.ac.uk

Tomás Harrington

Supervisor: Dr. Jag Srai
Home University: University of Cambridge

Title of project: Product-process archetypes that support pharmaceutical supply chains of the future
Project outline: The widespread adoption of continuous manufacturing and crystallisation processes in pharmaceutical industrial practice is not solely dependent upon the technical requirements of each process step. For such technologies to become more generally accepted the business case, and impact on current industry supply chain configurations, needs to be understood. This project is focused on addressing these issues, on providing an informed view of the combinations of product and process attributes that would benefit from continuous manufacturing, and the potential impact on future supply chain configurations. This has involved the development and application of an analytical framework/model, enabling the systematic assessment of continuous manufacturing, in specific product/delivery/patient contexts. In addition, as part of project ReMediES (Reconfiguring Medicines End-2-End Supply), this research has extended to explore alternative and novel routes to medicines production (e.g. enabled by 'digital' supply chains) to deliver added 'value' and 'outcomes' for ‘end-users’, i.e. the patient and healthcare providers
Key words: pharma supply networks; technology interventions; transformation/business case development; Industry evolution

Email: tsh32@cam.ac.uk

Muhammad Tariq Islam

Supervisor: Professor Alastair Florence, Dr. John Robertson
Home University: University of Strathclyde

Title of project: REMEDIES App B, Strand 3: HME: Application of Hot-melt extrusion in pharmaceuticals to produce oral solid dosage forms in one continuous process.
Project outline: Hot-melt extrusion (HME) is the process of continuously pumping materials under elevated temperature through a die to form a continuous strand of uniform cross section. HME can be combined with a variety of downstream equipment to either transform this strand into a powder/pelletized intermediate or a formed shape. The objective of this project is to discuss the capabilities of HME to produce pharmaceutical oral solid dosage forms in one step continuous manufacturing process and the scope for broader application. Additionally, PAT tools such as NIR/Raman used to monitor product quality in conjunction with temperature, pressure, speed and torque will be discussed.
Key words: Hot-melt extrusion, solid dosage form, 3D printing, Injection Moulding, process analytical technology.

Email: tariq.islam@strath.ac.uk

Pól MacFhionnghaile

Supervisor: Professor Jan Sefcik
Home University: University of Strathclyde

Title of project: Continuous nucleation and seed generation

Project outline: The research of this project is focused on using novel techniques in particle engineering using continuous methods. Antisolvent and reaction crystallisations are analysed using new technologies giving a better understanding in these processes. My own interests include in-situ and offline spectroscopy, and using antisolvent and reaction crystallisation to investigate different solid states of a compound, and to produce particles of a designated particle size and shape.

Key words: Continuous crystallisation, nucleation

Email: pol.macfhionnghaile@strath.ac.uk

Elke Prasad

Supervisor: Professor Gavin Halbert
Home University: University of Strathclyde

Title of project: Novel Pharmaceutical Processes for Formulation Control and Continuous Manufacture

Project outline: Elke is currently employed as PDRA on the CEMAC Centre Phase II Research Programme, within which her focus is Secondary Processing. Elke’s previous positions were Pharmaceutical Project Manager at Biofilm Limited and Research Assistant (Formulation) at the Cancer Research UK Formulation Unit. Elke has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (University of Strathclyde) and is also a registered Pharmacist in Great Britain and Germany.

Key words: Secondary Processing, Formulation

Email: elke.prasad@strath.ac.uk

Nazer Rajoub

Supervisor: Professor Alastair Florence
Home University: University of Strathclyde

Title of project: Proprietary Projects with Generic Learning for Application to Workflows
Project outline: TBC
Key words:

Email: nazer.rajoub@strath.ac.uk

Vijay Srirambhatla

Supervisor: Professor Alastair Florence
Home University: University of Strathclyde

Title of project: Control and Prediction of the Organic Solid State (CPOSS)

Project outline: The project aims at developing experimetal methods for the crystallisation and scale-up of computationally predicted polymorphic forms of organic compounds leading to fundamental understanding of the surface feaures that promote crystal nucleation and growth.

Key words: Polymorphs; Crystal structure prediction; Experimental screening and analysis.

Email: vijay.srirambhatla@strath.ac.uk

Réne Steendam

Supervisor: Professor Joop Ter Horst
Home University: University of Strathclyde

Title of project: Continuous synthesis of enantiopure crystals

Project outline: Chiral molecules come in two forms which are eachother mirror-image. Often only one form is needed. Some batch approaches, based on crystallisation, have already proven to be effective in converting all molecules in only one form. In this project, we are exploring the possibilities to adopt these methods in a continuous approach.

Key words: Chirality, nucleation, continuous crystallisation, synthesis

Email: rene.steendam@strath.ac.uk

Joaquin Urbina

Supervisor: Professor Alastair Florence

Home University: University of Strathclyde

Title of project: Predictive Assessment of Stability of Amorphous API Solid Solutions

Project outline: Although crystalline drug molecules are physically stable, they frequently suffer from poor aqueous solubility and bioavailability. One way to overcome this challenge is to convert them to the amorphous state. However, the amorphous phase is unstable and tends to revert to the crystalline phase. The physical stability of an amorphous drug can be increased by using a suitable polymer to form an amorphous API solid solution, in which the amorphous drug is molecularly dispersed within the polymer matrix. The aim of this project is to establish a workflow to predict the physical stability of amorphous API solid solutions against drug crystallization using pair distribution function (PDF) analysis as the principal characterization tool, since this emerging analytical technique has been demonstrated to detect subtle changes in local molecular order. It is thus expected that PDF analysis will be sensitive to these changes if an amorphous drug crystallizes from the solid solution over time when subjected to physical stress conditions.

Key words:Physical stability, amorphous API solid solution, PDF analysis, crystallization inhibition

Email: joaquin.urbina@strath.ac.uk