Nucleation knowhow can aid API makers say crystal experts due to meet in France
The inaugural meeting of the Crystallize research network – which is funded through the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme – will take place in Marseille this month, with the aim being to allow researchers to exchange ideas that will have a tangible impact on API production.
Nicolas Blagden from the University of Lincoln in the UK told in-Pharmatechnologist.com “the crystallization community is small, but crystal science impacts on a wide range of other areas thus has significant dimension so network is a portal to develop.”
Prof Blagden suggested solubility enhancement and control over bioavailability as areas where crystallisation research could help API producers, adding that a better understanding of the chemical processes involved – particularly nucleation - will benefit drugmakers.
“The big problem is that we have still got a lot to learn about how crystals actually grow as it’s not clear how they change from a liquid to a solid state. This is called ‘nucleation’ and is the first step in crystallisation, determining if a crystal can form from a liquid state.
“A bigger effort has now begun to understand crystallisation and how it impacts on everything from chemicals to pharmaceuticals. We need to understand this process so we can deal with the bigger problems. It’s about sharing advice and experience.”
The nucleation expertise that will be exchanged by research network members could ultimately allow drugmakers to develop improved dosage form production methods and even help them win patent protection according to Blagden.
He also stressed the benefits of being to share information with researchers from other countries, explaining that by facilitating such interaction the network provides a forum for “a pan European approach to build capacity and visibility.”
