Freeze-dry inspection tech to lower process costs, says Antares Vision
The LYO-Check is designed, made and sold by the Italy and US-headquartered firm, and responds to industry need for a “dedicated inspection system distinct from those applied to liquid parenteral products,” said Antares.
Lyophilization removes water from a liquid drug to create a solid powder or cake for pharmaceutical manufacturing. The resulting product is typically stored in cartridges, dual chamber syringes, vials, and prefilled mixing systems.
According to Antares, lyophilization offers a host of benefits, including allowing long-term storage, and protection from pollution.
The machine will have a “significant impact” on the lyophilized product sector, said business development manager for inspection machines Davide Sacchetti, including “prolonged storage possibilities, higher product quality due to improved inspection, and lower process costs compared to manual inspection.”
LYO-Check
Antares’ US sales manager John Pitts told us the LYO-Check incorporates ‘head space inspection’ technology – which tests the sterility of the product – in order to enhance freeze-dried product examination.
“The machine incorporates the latest product handling and Antares Vision technologies for 100% inspection of lyophilized products, including head space analysis.”
Pitts told us the technology’s monoblock rotary design feature, coupled with its optical layout, sets it apart from lyophilized-product inspection machines on the market.
The LYO-Check incorporates a central rotary carousel for product transport, which is mounted separately to the cameras and illuminators to enable repeatable inspections “with no interference and residual vibration from the carousel.”
Further, the technology “incorporates three different lighting sources with specific angles and intensity to target the upper portion of the lyo-cake to provide accurate images that are free of shadows and ensure no false rejects,” he added.
Antares will launch the head space inspection technology to the North American market at Interphex, April 17-19.
The firm is also recognized for its work in the serialization processing space.
In August last year, the firm launched the track and trace-focused Print & Check Flex Machine in conjunction with contract manufacturing organization (CMO) PCI Pharma Services.
In February 2017, Antares announced plans to move to larger US headquarters – in Moorestown, New Jersey – in response to increased demand for its serialization modules.