High potency processing takes centre stage at major pharmaceutical industry event

 

The challenges of high potency processing – and the innovations and solutions to help overcome them – were in the spotlight last week at a major pharmaceutical conference in North East England.

The North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) Pharmaceutical Conference 2018: High Potency Processing was hosted by Contract Research and Development Organisation Arcinova at its site in Alnwick, UK on May 1.

The conference brought together an expert panel of speakers and industry professionals who provided insights into a number of aspects of high potency processing, including: categorisation; risk assessment; process development issues; creating a facility for HPAPI; manufacturers’ perspectives; and design and engineering issues.

NEPIC is a membership cluster organisation working with the chemical-using industries in the North East of England. It covers a broad sweep of chemistry-focussed industries including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, petrochemicals, polymers and materials, fine and speciality chemicals and renewables.

The day offered a variety of networking opportunities and a chance for delegates to build alliances in the pharmaceutical sector.

Representatives of Arcinova, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, Safebridge Consultants, YProTech, ProSys Sampling Systems, WH Partnership, Solo Containment, HPAPI Project Services and S3 Processing presented at the event.

Paul Quigley, Head of API Development and Bioanalytical Services at Arcinova, presented on market drivers for highly potent Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).This included pharma sales growth expectations in the next few years, and small molecule API trends and their role in driving pharmaceutical growth.

A panel discussion at the end of the session allowed speakers to share their knowledge and expertise on market trends, technical challenges and effective solutions. This was followed by a guided tour through Arcinova’s 15,000m2 facility, which is located on the company’s 34 acre site.

The conference was Philip Aldridge’s first event as the new CEO of NEPIC. He first joined the cluster in 2012 and specialised in supporting the pharmaceutical sector in the North East before taking up his new role as CEO.

Arcinova provides both integrated end to end solutions and standalone services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. It works across drug substance synthesis, drug product manufacture, CMC, bioanalytical and metabolism services, radiolabelling synthesis and synthesis of toxic/highly potent APIs. It also provides consultancy services and works in partnership with companies throughout the drug development process.

Philip Aldridge, CEO of NEPIC, said:

“I am delighted with the outcome of NEPIC’s pharmaceutical conference held at Arcinova’s Alnwick facility. We heard from a wide range of speakers covering the subject of high potency processing from a number of angles, which provided the large audience with a holistic view of an important pharmaceutical manufacturing trend.

“The professional help we received from Arcinova staff and their excellent facilities contributed significantly to what was a very successful event. I was particularly pleased that a number of the world class speakers assembled said that this conference was better than most they had presented at recently covering this subject.

“What NEPIC does best is to get business communities together to share best practice and make new business connections. I felt that this conference achieved this for a very important sector of the North East economy.”

Ian Shott, CEO of Arcinova, said:

“At Arcinova, we understand the success of the North East pharmaceutical sector depends on regional organisations working together. We are very happy to have collaborated with NEPIC to help strengthen and promote the pharmaceutical sector in North East England and we were thrilled to welcome delegates to our site in Alnwick. As a business we are committed to helping the sector in the North East to grow and prosper.

“We saw specialists from the pharmaceutical sector sharing knowledge on high potency processing and bringing an outstanding level of technical expertise to the table, expertise that was shaped by real life experiences in industry. The panel discussion also opened up new debates and provided much food for thought around high potency processing and it is testimony to NEPIC’s strength as a cluster that delegates and speakers from across the UK attended the conference.”

The North East of England has a strong heritage in pharmaceutical manufacturing, capability and expertise. The region is home to over 1000 life science and healthcare companies that together employ 38,000 people, generate a combined turnover of £10.5 billion and contribute 33% of the UK’s pharmaceutical GDP.

Arcinova recently announced the award of a £1.5 million Innovate UK grant for the development of new flexible modular manufacturing technologies, a project which is set to demonstrate the operating feasibility of world first innovative continuous production tools.

The project, which will span a three-year period, will be undertaken in collaboration with a team at the University of Nottingham.

Arcinova’s senior scientific team are renowned for their world class, specialist research and development expertise and their big pharma and CRDO experience gives them extensive, broad ranging industry knowledge and insight.

Arcinova works with big pharma, specialty pharma and biotech companies across the globe, from established multinationals to emerging start-ups.

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