International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Science A Review on Freeze Drying Process of Pharmaceuticals (original) (raw)
Related papers
A Review on Freeze Drying Process of Pharmaceuticals
Freeze-drying is a method of removing water by sublimation of ice crystals from frozen material. Suitable parameters of process application allow us to obtain best quality products compared to products dried with traditional methods. In pharmaceutical field lyophilization has become important subject to ongoing development and its expansion. Lyophilization is common, but cost intensive and hence one of the key objectives during freeze-drying process development is to minimize the drying time ( mainly primary drying time, which is the longest of the three steps in freeze-drying). However, increasing the shelf temperature into secondary drying before all of the ice is removed from the product will likely cause collapse or eutectic melt. Thus, from product quality as well as process economics standpoint, it is very critical to detect the end of primary drying. This review focused on the recent advances and its targets in near future. At first, the principle, steps involved, formulation aspects and importance of lyophilization, methods of lyophilization with detection of end point in lyophilization was explained.
Future Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Background Process intensification is a major hurdle in pharmaceutical process scale-up. Solvent removal strategies have limited the effectiveness of the overall stability of pharmaceutical formulations. The main aim of present review article is to focus on the use of the freeze-drying process in pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals and nanoderived therapeutics and their translation into commercial viable products. Unwavering efforts of scientists in the process intensification of lyophilization promote unique features of products for commercialization. Regulatory agencies are promoting the utilization of a quality-by-design approach to improve product characteristics. Among 300 FDA-approved pharmaceutical industries, 50% of products are freeze-dried. The freeze-drying process is costlier and requires more time than other drying methodologies. Unstable pharmaceutical dispersions and solutions can be preferably stabilized by using the freeze-drying method. Main text This review highli...
Freeze-Drying of Pharmaceuticals in Vials Nested in a Rack System—Part I: Freezing Behaviour
Pharmaceutics
The distribution of biopharmaceuticals often requires either ultra-cold conditions or lyophilisation. In both cases, the drug product is frozen and, thus, exposed to similar stress conditions, which can be detrimental to its quality. However, these stresses can be inhibited or mitigated by a suitable formulation and/or an appropriate freezing design. This paper addresses how the key freezing parameters, i.e., ice nucleation temperature and cooling rate, impact the freezing behaviour of a sucrose-based formulation. The analysis included two loading configurations, vials directly resting on the shelf and nested in a rack system. The loading configuration affected the product freezing rate and the ice nucleation temperature distribution, resulting in larger ice crystals in the case of vials nested in a rack system. SEM micrographs and specific surface area measurements confirmed the different product morphology. Eventually, the different product morphology impacted the bioactivity reco...
Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2001
In a companion paper we show that the freezing of samples in vials by shelf-ramp freezing results in significant primary drying rate heterogeneity because of a dependence of the ice crystal size on the nucleation temperature during freezing.1 The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that post-freezing annealing, in which the product is held at a predetermined temperature for a specified duration, can reduce freezing-induced heterogeneity in sublimation rates. In addition, we test the impact of annealing on primary drying rates. Finally, we use the kinetics of relaxations during annealing to provide a simple measurement of Tg′, the glass transition temperature of the maximally freeze-concentrated amorphous phase, under conditions and time scales most appropriate for industrial lyophilization cycles. Aqueous solutions of hydroxyethyl starch (HES), sucrose, and HES:sucrose were either frozen by placement on a shelf while the temperature was reduced (“shelf-ramp frozen”) or by immersion into liquid nitrogen. Samples were then annealed for various durations over a range of temperatures and partially lyophilized to determine the primary drying rate. The morphology of fully dried liquid nitrogen-frozen samples was examined using scanning electron microscopy. Annealing reduced primary drying rate heterogeneity for shelf-ramp frozen samples, and resulted in up to 3.5-fold increases in the primary drying rate. These effects were due to increased ice crystal sizes, simplified amorphous structures, and larger and more numerous holes on the cake surface of annealed samples. Annealed HES samples dissolved slightly faster than their unannealed counterparts. Annealing below Tg′ did not result in increased drying rates. We present a simple new annealing–lyophilization method of Tg′ determination that exploits this phenomenon. It can be carried out with a balance and a freeze-dryer, and has the additional advantage that a large number of candidate formulations can be evaluated simultaneously. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmaceutical Association J Pharm Sci 90:872–887, 2001
Development of Freeze-Drying Cycles for Pharmaceutical Products Using a Micro Freeze-Dryer
Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2019
This article aims to investigate how a small-scale freeze-dryer can be used for process design. The system encompasses a temperature controlled metallic ring that surrounds a small batch of vials, in contact with the external vials through removable thermal conductors. The temperature of the ring can be modified to keep a constant difference with the temperature of one or more vials of the batch. In this article, an extensive validation of the system is given, considering 10% w/w sucrose and 5% w/w mannitol solutions, processed in different types of vials (6 R and 20 R) and in different operating conditions. The micro freezedryer was also shown to be able to provide accurate estimates of the overall heat transfer coefficient from the shelf to the product in the vials (K v) and of the resistance of the dried cake to vapor flux (R p): both values appeared to be very close to those obtained for the same case studies in a pilot-scale unit. Finally, the use of the micro freeze-dryer to control product temperature and drying time values to simulate a pilot-scale unit was addressed, thus demonstrating the adequacy of this system for process scaleup.
Spray Freeze-Drying as a Solution to Continuous Manufacturing of Pharmaceutical Products in Bulk
Processes
Pharmaceutical manufacturing is evolving from traditional batch processes to continuous ones. The new global competition focused on throughput and quality of drug products is certainly the driving force behind this transition which, thus, represents the new challenge of pharmaceutical manufacturing and hence of lyophilization as a downstream operation. In this direction, the present review deals with the most recent technologies, based on spray freeze-drying, that can achieve this objective. It provides a comprehensive overview of the physics behind this process and of the most recent equipment design.
Drying of Biopharmaceuticals: Recent Developments, New Technologies and Future Direction
Japan Journal of Food Engineering, 2018
The dehydration of biopharmaceutical products through dr ying provides numerous benefits, including ease of handling and storage, reduction in transportation costs, and improved stability. Typically, the drying of biotherapeutics is accomplished through freeze-drying, however, the removal of water by lyophilization possesses several drawbacks, including lengthy drying times, low energy efficiency, and the high cost of purchasing and maintaining the equipment. Furthermore, freezedr ying is a batch process which may be challenging to adapt and implement with the recent push for continuous manufacturing. These limitations have led to the search for next-generation drying technologies that can be applied to the manufacture of biotherapeutic products. Several alternative dr ying methods to freeze-dr ying have been developed and implemented in industries outside of pharmaceuticals, such as food and agriculture, and some are at an advanced state. With the aim of applying lessons learned from technologies in various industries, herein, we review several processing technologies with particular emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages of each in comparison to lyophilization and their potential to be adapted and utilized for drying biotherapeutic compounds.
LYOPHILIZATION (FREEZE-DRYING)-A REVIEW
Freeze-drying is a relatively expensive process requiring long processing time. Consequently, commercial freeze-drying processes are often neither robust nor efficient. The design of an “optimized” freeze-drying process is not particularly difficult for most products, as long as some simple rules based on well-accepted scientific principles are followed. It is the purpose of this review to discuss the scientific foundations of the freeze-drying process design and then to consolidate these principles into a set of guidelines for rational process design and optimization. , guidelines are given for selection of the optimal shelf temperature and chamber pressure settings required to achieve the target product temperature without thermal and/or mass transfer overload of the freeze dryer.
Freeze drying—principles and practice for successful scale-up to manufacturing
International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2004
Freeze Drying involves transfer of heat and mass to and from the product under preparation, respectively, thus it is necessary to scale these transport phenomena appropriately from pilot plant to manufacturing-scale units to maintain product quality attributes. In this manuscript we describe the principal approach and tools utilized to successfully transfer the lyophilization process of a labile pharmaceutical product from pilot plant to manufacturing. Based on pilot plant data, the lyophilization cycle was tested during limited scale-up trials in manufacturing to identify parameter set-point values and test process parameter ranges. The limited data from manufacturing were then used in a single-vial mathematical model to determine manufacturing lyophilizer heat transfer coefficients, and subsequently evaluate the cycle robustness at scale-up operating conditions. The lyophilization cycle was then successfully demonstrated at target parameter set-point values.