Innovations are an essential success factor for the pharmaceutical industry. Production technology is also playing an increasingly important role in implementation. This becomes apparent when the topic of containment is taken as an example. The higher the percentage of active to highly-active substances in modern medication, the higher the demands in production, too.
This represents a good opportunity for Fette Compacting to take a closer look at current and future developments in this area. The framework for this was offered by the Containment Circle organized in late May by the experts in solid formulations. The idea of the Circle is to offer experts and practitioners a platform for professional exchanges of information, whereby the title of the “What’s Next?” range of events says it all: participants come together to consider current and future topics and to discuss solutions.
International audience
Participants from all over the world had registered for one of the morning or afternoon events. This breakdown ensured that the entire international audience could take part. May 27 saw the Technology Center in Schwarzenbek being transformed into a broadcasting studio from where Fette Compacting broadcast the program live to all corners of the world.
Keynote: Best practice from Bayer
The Containment Circle kicked off with a keynote speech by Dr. Enrico Hanusa. As Head of Operations, he is responsible for operating SOL-1, the new Bayer launch facility for OSD products. Its concept combines maximum flexibility with the ability to scale processes swiftly. The basic requirements for this are a high degree of automation and a comprehensive containment concept. In view of the new design and the application of new technologies, Dr. Hanusa emphasized that this has also changed the requirements on personnel deployed. It is therefore decisive for successful operation that employees are qualified accordingly.
Expert discussion: Containment becomes standard
Experts in the subsequent panel discussion shared the opinion that operator qualifications play an essential role in containment production. The discussion on trends and challenges in OSD production was chaired by Dr. Enrico Hanusa and Dr. Andreas Schreiner, Global Validation Network Leader at Novartis AG, Anke Geipel-Kern, Senior Editor at Vogel Communications Group GmbH, Martin Kiermeier, Lead Engineer, Process Pharma 1 at Pharmaplan AG, and Dr.-Ing. Martin Schöler, Head of Engineering & Design at Fette Compacting. Essential lines of development will be represented by increasing automation and digitalization. Furthermore, containment solutions will increasingly become the minimum standard. This is due to the growing percentage of highly-active substances in newly-developed medication. One particular challenge is represented by the task of raising existing plants to the corresponding standards. Above all else, users in this context require even more knowledge on how to implement containment requirements in an equally effective and efficient manner.
Workshop: specific support
Dr.-Ing. Martin Schöler addressed this exact question in the workshop that followed. Apart from basic information on this topic, he also used practical examples to explain how users can systematically answer their questions, whereby he also addressed the questions posed by viewers who were able to participate via chat throughout the event. A feature they made good use of. The questions showed just how high the demand for information is when it comes to production issues. Fette Compacting hopes to address current topics in the form of further events.
