Solid State Pharmaceuticals Cluster
Discovering a new drug can mark the end of a long quest by researchers, but for the pharmaceutical industry, this is just one part of the equation. Before anything can be produced, the industry has to work out how to produce the drug in bulk and in a form that can go on the market.
Crystalisation, phase transformation, and mixing are just some of the stages likely to be involved, and if these processes vary, even slightly, materials may have to be reprocessed, or even discarded. Compared to other industries, the level of reprocessing is higher and the main reason for this is that traditionally the emphasis was on monitoring chemical characteristics rather than taking important physical characteristics into account.
The Solid State Pharmaceuticals Cluster is a collaboration led Prof. Kiernan Hodnett, University of Limerick, involving researchers in Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin, and the National University of Ireland, Galway, with the aim of matching the wealth of chemical, engineering and other academic knowledge with practical production know-how from industry to solve the problem of getting drugs into the right form. Most of the drugs we take, usually as pills, are in powder or crystalline form. Crystals can vary, and although this might only be apparent under a microscope, the differences can influence how a drug is taken up by the body. Although drugs may be chemically the same, how they are presented usually determines when, where, and how they will be absorbed.
It takes more than trial and error to get all of those processes right. Knowing what’s involved at the molecular level and understanding the science behind reactions gives industry much more control, and apart from a better end result, there can be a considerable saving of resources.
With more than 80 pharmaceutical companies manufacturing in Ireland the sector is responsible for a quarter of our manufacturing output. One of the main reasons why those companies have done so well in Ireland is because the quality of production is high, and the way to keep this sector healthy is to provide a high level of support from research-based expertise. Manufacturing pharmaceuticals is a highly competitive business, and likely to become more so as patents are starting to run out on some of the most popular drugs. Having a competitive advantage in process control is becoming more important for companies, and there is a related issue in how launch sites for new drugs are chosen. Patent protection only lasts for a limited number of years, so manufacturers cannot afford any delays in the start up of production. Decisions on where to locate initial bulk production are made on the basis of known track record and availability of expertise. Plants with a reputation for getting it right first time are always going to be the first choice for production of new drugs.
A number of academic researchers are associated with the Cluster, and there is active industrial participation with companies such as Janssen, Schering Plough, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharpe and Dohme, Roche, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Clarochem and Hovione involved.
For further information see http://www2.ul.ie/web/WWW/Faculties/Science_&_Engineering/Research/Research_Institutes/MSSI/Research_Themes/SSPC
