Suspended Vials Help Optimize Continuous Freeze-Drying

U.S. researchers have suspended vials to enable autonomous continuous freeze-drying and have developed a digital twin to help optimize the new process.

The team, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has found that suspending vials on a wire during freeze-drying, a process called lyophilization, gives a more uniform drying process to produce a more consistent product.

The new process also provides all the existing benefits of continuous processing, such as higher production capacity and improved quality control.

“Because this is a continuous lyophilization technology, you get all the benefits of continuous versus batch manufacturing,” explains Prakitr Srisuma, PhD, formerly a researcher at MIT’s Argonne National Laboratory.

“But we have the unique benefit with the suspended wire technology of [more] uniformity of the [final] product.”

Traditionally, vials are dried in a cupboard where they may be occasionally moved around, disturbing their contents, Srisuma explains. By contrast, suspending the vials on wires moved by magnets means they receive the same exposure to different conditions during drying, and their passage through the drying process is very smooth, he says.

“If a vial has been sitting on a shelf and you try to move it, there’s going to be friction, which will generate small particles but, with suspended vials, we avoid those issues,” he explains.

The team had previously spoken to GEN about modeling lyophilization processes. Since then, they have developed a digital twin of the continuous lyophilizer, which they can use to help optimize the process.

Going forward, the team aims to use the digital twin to develop advanced predictive control and optimization strategies. In addition, Srisuma says, the researchers may explore using microwave lyophilization.

The post Suspended Vials Help Optimize Continuous Freeze-Drying appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.