Juliette Martin , scientific communications manager at Seqens , share some case studies in reducing the process mass intensity of pharmaceuticals
PHARMACEUTICALS
Evolving the green chemist ’ s toolbox for API manufacturing
Juliette Martin , scientific communications manager at Seqens , share some case studies in reducing the process mass intensity of pharmaceuticals
The pharmaceutical industry is devoting its efforts to develop more sustainable chemistry for modern drug manufacturing and optimising the synthesis of many pharmaceuticals in terms of greenness . In medicinal chemistry , focusing on the early processes in drug discovery with the goal of fast and effective production of promising drug candidates , most laboratories are still employing older , conventional methodologies for the synthesis of their target compounds .
Nevertheless , the eco-friendliness of the process is becoming a true key driver . Replacing older methods with benign alternatives offers a tremendous opportunity to innovate in some synthetic methodologies and practices .
In 2008 , Pfizer developed the first reagent selection guide as a pioneer in green and sustainable chemistry . 1 In addition , others , such as GSK , Sanofi and AstraZeneca , created solvent selection guides as tools for making the best choice for greener and more sustainable chemistry , ranking the most used solvents in terms of their greenness . 2 These guidelines provide an essential educative tool for newcomers in the field .
Initial process
Process intensification
■ Solvents ■ Water ■ Reagents ■ Others
Figure 1 – Initial & redesigned processes reducing PMI
Aligning sustainability with PI
Process intensification ( PI ) offers the potential to reduce waste , improve energy-efficiency and potentially access new feedstocks . Currently the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries are dominated by batch processing , operating in flexible multipurpose batch plants using several consecutive and segmented unit operations and processes , both for API and formulated drug product .
With increased cost pressures , industries are looking at opportunities to lower operating costs . As a result , there has been an increasing interest
Re-designed process
27 %
in developing continuous production processes instead of the traditional batch processes . 3 , 4
Continuous processing ( CP ) offers many advantages including higher product throughput and yield , easier scale-up , more consistent product quality and safer operation under extreme conditions . A CP approach is constrained only by the limits of chemistry and physics , whereas batch processing is often constrained by equipment limits .
From a green engineering perspective , continuous processes can significantly reduce process mass
MAR / APR 2024 SPECCHEMONLINE . COM
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