Description

Continuous manufacturing (CM) is a method for manufacturing end-to-end pharmaceutical products on a single, uninterrupted production line. While batch manufacturing requires transporting, testing, and refeeding materials from one process to the next, continuous processes execute all testing, feeding, and processing inline at a single manufacturing site. The global pharma industry is slowly shifting its focus from primary care to specialty medicine and rare diseases. To modify research and development (R&D) models to address and adapt to challenges associated with rare, ultra-rare, and specialty diseases, the strategy is changing from being present in a few large segments to many small segments and exploring new disease areas with high unmet needs.

CM helps pharma companies significantly speed up the chemistry and manufacturing processes, which can cut down on the overall manufacturing timelines, especially in critical life-saving drugs. To date, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the manufacture of over 7 drugs using continuous processes, which started off from only one product less than 4 years ago. In 2020 alone, the FDA approved 4 new drugs to be manufactured using CM. Alongside the FDA, health authorities in Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, and New Zealand have approved CM application for the production of solid oral dosage forms, indicating the growing acceptance of the technology worldwide.

With such nascent technology, the pharma industry has been applying the technique for processes that are off limits for batch processes, which might include toxic reagents, and for scale-up reactions that include electrochemical or photochemical reactions. Implementing technologies, such as process analytical technology (PAT) and digital twins, for improved real-time decision making will allow for the better control of manufacturing processes, including batch and CM.

Considering the large-scale benefits of flexibility and timeline management and a quantifiable reduction in the cost of manufacturing through automated processes and better resource management, CM is expected to witness large-scale adoption in the form of integrated processes. Furthermore, the ecosystem is currently focused on pharma companies that take the majority share, in terms of setting up facilities. Contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), however, are slowly expanding their facilities by collaborating with CM platform vendors, with system integrators and automation experts providing additional support in the optimization manufacturing value chain. In the coming years, as the regulatory and operational benefits become more realized, CDMOs and pharma companies will likely continue enhancing and building their CM capabilities and expertise to remain competitive.

Author: Aarti Siddhesh Chitale