Hovione has implemented flow chemistry into its workflow . We report from a recent company webinar explaining how
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We see continuous flow as an alternative to batch processing , not a replacement ,” said Dr Rudi Oliveira , a scientist who works in R & D process chemistry development , process engineering and scale-up at the pharmaceutical CDMO Hovione . Oliveira , who joined the company ’ s continuous manufacturing group in 2015 and has worked with process chemists on such process ever since , was speaking at a recent webinar on the ‘ Development Workflow of Continuous Flow Chemistry Processes '. The company , he said , uses continuous flow for several key reasons , notably :
• To help in handling hazardous reactions and / or reagents
• To explore new chemistries and / or extreme operating windows
• To intensify reactions by improving their efficiency , greenness and productivity , particularly for chemistries that are not feasible to handle in large batch operations
• To control the quality and reproducibility of reactions where batch struggles Hovione has a wide range of continuous flow capabilities from R & D-scale upwards . These include lab equipment to fit most chemistries in glass , stainless steel ( SS ), Hastelloy and Teflon , in the temperature range from -40 ° C to + 250 ° C and up to 25 bar pressure , at throughputs up to 60 g / hour . At manufacturing scale , the company can use SS , Teflon and
silicon carbide reactors operating from -60 ° C to + 200 ° C , at up to 18 bar and 300 kg / hour . “ Continuous flow has been pretty much blended into our typical chemistry workflow . Some different knowledge is required to work in continuous but the objective is the same : to provide the best process and also keeping in mind the Quality by Design concept ,” said Oliveira .
Figure 1 – Parameter review checklist
Five-stage approach
The company ’ s approach to developing continuous processes is based on five stages that roughly correspond to the lifecycle of a project : 1 . Assessment 2 . Parameter review 3 . Development 4 . Scale-up 5 . Industrialisation
14 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981