Oral Solid Dose – Architectural Considerations

Hello good people of the world! Today we’re talking about architectural considerations in the design of oral solid dose (OSD) manufacturing facilities.

In addition to normal architectural standards, the following must be considered for OSD manufacturing facilities:

• Manufacturing process flow
• Personnel flow
• Equipment flow (clean and dirty)
• Waste flow

Risks to consider when mapping flows include:

• Risk of contamination from outside contaminates
• Risk of cross-contamination
• Risk of mix-up

Risk mitigations should consider:

• Process containment
• Isolators
• Environmental controls
• Room size
• Transition spaces and airlocks
• Personnel controls such as gowning
• Administrative controls such as frequency of operation

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Oral Solid Dose – Isolation and Containment

Hello good people of the world! Today we’re going to talk about isolation and containment considerations in oral solid dose manufacturing. The purpose of isolation and containment is to control the level of pharmaceutical ingredient exposure to personnel and the environment. It is typically not possible to eliminate all exposures, so we try to reduce it to a tolerable level, which must be defined.

The CFRs and other regulations require manufacturers to limit exposure to customers of any undesirable substance. Limits have been established by industry group and regulatory bodies, and quantify things such as Allowable Daily Exposure (ADE).

Things to look at when considering isolation and containment include:

• Material flow
• Personnel flow
• Operator interventions
• Sampling
• Waste flow
• Maintenance procedures
• Utility interactions

Isolation and containment risks must be evaluated and mitigated to get a solid handle on the implications. A multi-disciplinary approach must be used. Migations may include:

• Physical barriers
• Air control
• Cleaning procedures
• Disposables
• Training

What considerations come in to play in your isolation/containment strageties? Comment below!

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Oral Solid Dose – Supporting Equipment and Systems

Hello good people of the world! Continuing the series on oral solid dosage forms, today we’re going to talk about supporting equipment and systems. The main equipment in unit operations get the spotlight when it comes to manufacturing Oral Solid Dosage forms, but they cannot work without supporting equipment and systems.

Supporting Equipment:
Typical supporting equipment in a OSD manufacturing process includes:

1. Air Systems: all modern manufacturing processes use air systems for process, instruments, and environment. HVAC helps control environmental conditions, including particulate (viable and nonviable) counts, temperature, and humidity. Compressed air systems may be used in the process to cool or cover product, such as with nitrogen, or operate unit operation steps, such as in fluid bed drying. Automated systems will use compressed air to pneumatically control valves and other components.
2. Dust Collection: compared to biotech and other pharmacuetical processes, OSD processes have the added complication of dust collection. OSD material movement and processes can create a lot of dust, which can be a risk from a product quality point-of-view, but also a safety point-of-view, since dust can lead to fires and even explosions. Dust collection equipment must be employed to minimize and control dust.
3. Vacuum Systems: vacuum systems may be used for cleaning, dust collection, and also in process steps such as vacuum drying.

Supporting Systems:
Typical supporting systems include:

1. Change Control: it is expected that engineering changes are controlled with quality oversight through a formal process.
2. Preventive Maintenance: it is expected that regular preventive maintenance be performed and documented formally.
3. Calibration: it is expected that “critical” instruments are calibrated at regular intervals traceable to an international standard. Calibration procedures and results must be formally documented. The method to determine and results of the determination of critical instruments must be documented.

What supporting equipment and/or systems do you use in your OSD manufacturing process? Comment below!

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Oral Solid Dose – Material Handling

Hello good people of the world! Continuing the series on oral solid dosage forms, today we’re going to talk about material handling. Oral solid dose manufacturing is typically a batch process, which means materials need to be transferred from step-to-step. Sometimes there is direct conveyance between steps, but often transfer is performed via Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC).

In terms of design, IBCs should be able to handle the worst-case (lowest) density material in the process. IBCs should be cleanable, especially if a single container will support many product manufacturing processes. IBCs should be designed in such a way that they drain easily. Charging/discharging must be considered.

IBCs may be transported on wheels, or by a pallet truck.

Discharging may be facilitated by applying vibrations to the IBC, either internally or externally.

For direct conveyance, gravity, pneumatic conveyance, and mechanical conveyors are options.

What considerations around material handling do you have in your OSD lines? Comment below!

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Oral Solid Dose – Critical Properties

Hello good people of the world! Today’s post is the first in a series covering considerations around the commissioning, qualification, and validation of facilities, systems, and equipment involved in the manufacture of oral solid dose (OSD) products. OSD is a wide-spread method of pharmaceutical delivery, including well known medicines such as aspirin, Viagra, and many antibiotics. Solid doses can take the form of powders, tablets, capsules, pills, lozenges, granules and more.

Here we’re going to cover the physical and chemical properties that should be considered in equipment design.

First, environmental factors:

1. Temperature and Humidity: temperature and humidity should be controlled even if the product is not sensitive, as most processes are susceptible to flow issues in the extreme temperature and/or humidity ranges.
2. Light: some OSD products are light (especially UV light) sensitive and must be protected from sunlight and even indoor light in some cases.
3. Oxygen: some products may also be sensitive to oxygen exposure.

Second, process factors:

1. Particle size and size distribution: powders inevitably have some variation in particle size that must be understood and controlled
2. Particle shape: similarly to size, particles will have variation in shape
3. Surface properties: are the particles smooth or rough? Do they stick together? Do they readily absorb moisture? Surface properties must be understood
4. Particle strength: particles will break down under enough force. Particle strength must be understood and undue stress avoided in manufacturing processes.
5. Density, porosity, and packing: how does a particle pack? Things like minimum bulk density, poured bulk density, and tapped bulk density should be understood.
6. Cohesion in powders: related to surface properties, how to particles stick together? Magnetic, electrostatic, and intermolecular forces may be in play and should be understood.

What factors do you consider in your OSD manufacturing process?

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Free Offer! Track Punchlist Items in Real-time with Your Mobile Device

Hello good people of the world! So every project needs to track open items and that is typically done with a punchlist. You may have seen a punchlist in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, with one person as the owner, or even worse, on pen and paper.

A punchlist is a collection of data, and any good data collection is:

• Secure
• Accessible
• Robust

Golden Rules for Aseptic BioPharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility Design

Hello good people of the world! Today’s post covers some of the “golden rules” on aseptic biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility design. Please add yours in the comments below!