Design Space and QbD blog

Nominations for AIChE QbD Awards: 2012 (Pittsburgh) now open at http://bit.ly/QbDNominate

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:52:00 +0000

Nominations for the AIChE QbD Awards, to be presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, are now open to all at http://bit.ly/QbDNominate.

There are three awards:
- Excellence in QbD for Drug Substance, sponsored by DynoChem
- Excellence in QbD for Drug Product, sponsored by Pfizer
- Excellence In Integrated QbD Practice, sponsored by Merck.

Please submit nominations by 11 May 2012. All nominations will be considered by the awards committees.

For information about previous winners, see articles on PharmaQbD.com:
http://www.pharmaqbd.com/aiche_qbd_awards_2011/
http://www.pharmaqbd.com/aiche_awards_seibert_garcia-munoz/

Photographs from AIChE: Integrated QbD Practice and QbD Awards session

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:46:00 +0000

On our facebook page we have shared a sample of photographs from the Merck-sponsored session on Integrated QbD Practice at last month's AIChE Annual Meeting. Photos by Greg Helgeson with thanks to AIChE.

The pictures below show Dr Jose Tabora of BMS receiving the award for Outstanding Contribution to QbD for Drug Substance, sponsored by Scale-up Systems (DynoChem).

DynoChem team and presentations at AIChE 2011, Minneapolis

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:32:00 +0000

We look forward to seeing many of you at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN from 16-21 October. For your convenience we have compiled a list of papers that we think would be of interest to you including some featuring projects that utilized DynoChem software.

Last year AIChE began formally recognizing outstanding work in the area of Quality by Design; one award was presented for drug substance, one for drug product. This year an award has been added for “Excellence in Integrated QbD Practice” (sponsored by Merck). We are proud to be the sponsor for “AIChE Award for Outstanding Contribution to QbD for Drug Substance”. These awards will be presented at an evening session and mixer starting on Tuesday Oct 18, 2011 at 6:30 PM, in “Symphony III” at the Hilton. Hope to see you there.

If you would like to meet with any of us at the AIChE meeting any time during the week, please contact Marion Maniet to coordinate. marion.maniet@scale-up.com, or +1(412) 780-6711.

BMS’ Tabora: For PAT and QbD, the Exotic is Becoming Routine

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:28:00 +0000

BMS’ Tabora: For PAT and QbD, the Exotic is Becoming Routine

Pharmaceutical Industry Awards | News: BMS' Tabora to Receive Award for Excellence in QbD | Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:27:00 +0000

Pharmaceutical Industry Awards | News: BMS' Tabora to Receive Award for Excellence in QbD | Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Scale-up Systems Opens Indian Office

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:48:00 +0000

Scale-up Systems Opens Indian Office

Developers of DynoChem® Aim to Accelerate Process Development in Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

Read the full Press Release here.

YouTube video shows basics of using the new DynoChem Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 19:58:00 +0000

The new DynoChem Resources is live, using Microsoft Silverlight

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 19:48:00 +0000

The new DynoChem Resources webpage, the source for latest and best versions of all of our tools, went live on Friday 29 July. There are lots of great features: sign up or sign in to see them.

Including search - across all types of content, with related items grouped so you can find everything you need in a few clicks:

And a preview pane - so you can make a good selection of the right tools for your project faster than ever:

DynoChem Resources 2011 is the result of listening to users; you asked for a single source for tools, training and supporting documents when starting new projects, that was easy to use and always up to date.

We use Microsoft's Silverlight plug-in to make the website easy to navigate, more powerful and perform like a desktop application program.

It's our best ever model library and it's integrated into every copy of DynoChem 2011. We look forward to your feedback and further suggestions to make our tools even better.

Another fine GSK example shows how to make synergistic use of Kinetics and DOE

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:22:00 +0000

Mark Hughes and colleagues from GSK recently wrote up another fine example of the synergistic use of kinetics and design of experiments.

To quote the authors, "The DoE studies gave us an idea of the risks ... the kinetic model had provided higher-yielding conditions".

For more details, see:
A Mechanistic Insight into a Simple C-N Bond Formation via SN2 Displacement: A Synergistic Kinetics and Design of Experiment Approach.
Vol. 14, No. 6, 2010 / Organic Process Research & Development
in DynoChem Resources and the ACS website.

Q11 Draft Available

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:49:00 +0000

A draft of ICH Q11 covering Development and Manufacture of Drug Substances is now available here.

Opportunities to spread the word about DynoChem and make QbD a reality

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 08:26:00 +0000

Scale-up Systems is recruiting customer facing Technical Applications Consultants to support our growing business in North America, Europe and India.

In this key position, you can help change how the pharmaceutical industry works, putting DynoChem predictive tools that are fit for purpose in the hands of chemists and engineers.

Applications to join our team are welcome. More details here.

Model Citizen: A Talk with Steve Hearn of Scale-Up Systems

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:58:00 +0000

Simon Brooke interviews Joe Hannon at DynoChem 2011 User Meeting, London.

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:33:00 +0000

Updated tools for size distribution modeling in DynoChem Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:56:00 +0000

As the final part of a general update of our crystallization tools over the last year, we have just updated the utilities and models for size distribution calculations in DynoChem Resources.

The CSD/CLD tools are primarily for academic research purposes, rather than industrial application. This is for two main reasons: i) most industrial problems can be solved without modeling the number balance/size distribution and ii) quantitative interpretation of measured size data for modeling remains a challenge (see e.g. reference 1). Our models include options to 'calibrate' e.g. CLD data to close the mass balance.

You can find out more by reading the related Knowledge Base article.

For an example of mainstream application of DynoChem to industrial crystallization problems, see our Crystallization training exercise instead (Operation 5 in the manufacturing stage).

References
1. Zai Qun Yu, Pui Shan Chow and Reginald B. H. Tan, Interpretation of Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (FBRM) Data via Simulated Crystallization, Organic Process Research & Development 2008, 12, 646–654, http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/op800063n

Marcello Bosco of Roche, Basel wins prize for Best Presentation at DynoChem 2011 User Meeting, London

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 08:37:00 +0000

“We did promise you a blast of U2 and I think you’ll agree that it has, indeed, been a Beautiful Day.” And the audience certainly agreed with Joe Hannon as the discussions continued and new ways in which to use DynoChem as it develops its capabilities were suggested.

Joe then outlined some of the exciting new developments that DynoChem users can expect in the future. “Thanks to Steve Hearn and our Development Team, we’ve made DynoChem easier to roll out and made it quicker and simpler for your IT colleagues to manage".

Forthcoming initiatives include a new interface in the DynoChem Resources website using Microsoft Silverlight to provide easier search and navigation. In the meanwhile Joe urged users to visit DynoChem Resources to find out more about other ways in the software can help speed experimentation and reduce costs.

Not surprisingly given the quality of the day's presentations, finding a winner of the prize for best presentation was tough and when customer votes were counted, at first it seemed that there had been a three-way tie for first place. However a quick recount revealed that Marcello Bosco of Roche Basel (pictured above) was the outright winner with his discussion of "Thermal Scale-up – Vessel Characterization and Reaction Modelling with DynoChem".

Amid envious glances from colleagues, Marcello walked away with an iPad 2. Great for tapping out ideas when inspiration strikes outside the lab!

Joe ended with a call to action. “We’re proud to be sponsors of an AIChE award for excellence in quality by design, along with Pfizer and Merck and I’d like to ask you to get in contact if you know of any additional candidates for the 2011 prize, people who are doing great work that should be recognised."

When it comes to achieving these excellent results, DynoChem will be there, playing its part.

Pharma Companies excited about DynoChem at London User Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (luxuryexpert) — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:38:00 +0000

If science is about innovation and lateral thinking then both these qualities have been on display at DynoChem’s London User Conference as scientists from GSK, Pfizer and AstraZeneca amongst others have been describing this morning the wide variety of ways in which they’re using our software when scaling up their experiments.

For example, thanks to DynoChem GSK can remove impurities from drugs in development even more quickly and efficiently, while Pfizer Ringaskiddy is using the programme’s Parameter Fitting facility to scale up hydrogenations. AstraZeneca’s microwave reactor is being used in conjunction with DynoChem to produce more accurate predictions in their experiments.

“When you work for a company you’re usually focussed on your own problems and challenges so it’s great to find out about the challenges faced by other companies and the problem solving tools they’re using with them,” says Garry O’Connor of Pfizer (pictured right).

“The presentations this morning have been very interesting because they’ve been so diverse,” he adds. “Seeing the different ways that DynoChem is being used has been a real eye opener for me – especially seeing how other scientists are combining it with other problem solving methodologies.”

It’s not just during the sessions themselves that ideas have been exchanged and new ideas shared. The lunch break – and even the team photograph - have also provided excellent opportunities for swapping suggestions and tips for using DynoChem.

“The great thing about these user conferences is that you get a chance to network with other chemists but you also hear about the science,” says Dave Dale of SciMed (pictured right) who was previously at Pfizer was 35 years.

Like many scientists who have seen their testing times and their costs cut thanks to DynoChem, both Garry and Dave would like to see the system rolled out to a wider audience.

“There is a perception sometimes that DynoChem can only be used as a chemical engineering tool but it could be more readily accessible to mainstream chemists,” says Garry O’Connor.

As Dave Dale puts it: “Traditionally DynoChem has been used by specialists but it can be picked up by non-experts and used to solve problems. DynoChem should be for the masses!” Message received loud and clear!

Next stop London

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Sun, 22 May 2011 11:33:00 +0000

This coming week sees our third and final User Meeting of 2011, at the Royal Society, London.

We've got another great program of 10 Industry presentations and look forward to the insights these will provide for our attendees from across Europe.

The programme (UK times, 25 May) is:

8:15 AM “Process Model = Process Understanding ??”, Bernd Schmidt, AstraZeneca

8:55 AM “Scaling up and Plant-to-Plant Transfer of Safety Data for an Exothermic Reaction”, Tom Vickery, Merck

9:25 AM “A Data Driven Model Based Approach to Hydrogenation Scale-up in the API Industry”, Rob Foley, Pfizer

10:10 AM “Models, Mass Balances, and Analytical Data”, Wilfried Hoffmann, Pfizer

10:50 AM “Reaction Kinetics as a Tool to Underpin Control Strategy”, Neil Hodnett, GlaxoSmithKline

11:20 AM “Modelling an SNAr Reaction; Kinetics from a Microwave Reactor”, Rob Woodward, AstraZeneca

1:15 PM “Thermal Scale-up – Vessel Characterization and Reaction Modelling with DynoChem”, Marcello Bosco, Roche

1:45 PM “Applications in Equipment Comparability for Scale up of an API Process”, Steve Jeffery, Lilly

2:30 PM “Applications in Kilo Lab Flow Chemistry and Scale-up” Edel Hughes, Pfizer

3:00 PM “Modeling Solid-Liquid Separations: Fine-tuning the Filtration Model” Roel Hoefnagels, Janssen

A big thanks to all our speakers and to users travelling to London this week, and to our own team that organizes the event.

The final program for the London meeting, including abstracts, can now be downloaded here [DynoChem Resources login required].

Registration is still open here.

Attendees from the Mumbai and Chicago meetings can watch proceedings by live webcast on the "DynoCam". Contact Steve Cropper for more information.

Jerry Salan of Nalas Engineering wins prize for best application presentation at DynoChem 2011 User Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:51:00 +0000

Congratulations to Jerry Salan of Nalas Engineering, who won the prize for Best Application Presentation at the DynoChem User Meeting in Chicago last week. Jerry presented on “Pilot Scale Design and Continuous Manufacture of Novel Explosives Using Kinetic Modelling” and gave a great illustration of how to design a flow process quickly using a kinetic model and use the results to predict scale-up. Some even referred to Jerry's talk as 'DynoMite'.

Paul Thomas of PharmaQbD.com reported on the meeting and you can find out more here.

More pictures of this, the Mumbai and London meetings will be available shortly.

America's Got DynoChem Talent

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:33:00 +0000

Judging from the program for our Chicago User Meeting next week (11 May), America does indeed have DynoChem talent.

If you're coming to the meeting, try to reach the hotel by 7 or 8PM on 10 May, for our informal social event. Not to be missed!

Keerthi Pemula from Dr Reddys wins Best Presentation prize at DynoChem India User Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:26:00 +0000

Congratulations to Keerthi Pemula from Dr Reddys, who won the prize for Best Presentation at the DynoChem User Meeting in Mumbai last week. Keerthi presented on “Development of Kinetic Model and Process Predictions” and gave an excellent illustration of how to identify reaction mechanisms using a kinetic model and use the results to improve process performance. Particularly notable was the ability of the model to track impurities as well as the main substrate and product components.

Keerthi’s prize included a ball and stick for playing the ancient Irish game of Hurling, reputed to be the fastest game in the world on grass. Presenting the prize, Joe Hannon of Scale-up Systems commented that it symbolized the theme of the conference, to Accelerate Pharma Process Development.

The meeting was very well attended, presentations were of a high standard and there was real energy and momentum evident for adoption of DynoChem process modeling as an integral part of process development and scale-up. Here is one of the group shots. More pictures available shortly.

Mumbai next week

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:14:00 +0000

It's been a busy few months at Scale-up Systems. Online content at DynoChem Resources continues to improve and extend, while our best ever release, DynoChem 2011 is now available to download. For the next month or so, we will be hosting the industry at DynoChem user meetings in Mumbai (next week), Chicago and London. More details here.

Great Bards of QbD: Dr Seuss?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:04:00 +0000

There are not many poets associated with QbD, so this next one is a bit of a stretch to include in the series. The technical QbD contribution comes from Dr Art Etchells, the outstanding fluid mixing consultant who had a long and distinguished career at DuPont and now teaches and consults more widely. For an example of Art's work, see his chapter on pipeline mixing in the Handbook of Industrial Mixing. Anyone designing flow chemistry systems will find this material useful and we are building related tools for our users.

The rhymes and philosophical contribution are from Dr Seuss, to whom I was introduced by Art [tenuous connection - Ed] while walking in downtown Philadelphia about 10 years ago. I was looking for books for my daughter and being European had not heard much about Dr Seuss. After Art's introduction, we never looked back and my daughter went on to read early and well. I was struck by the quality of the writing and still pick up the books today, while she has outgrown them.

One in particular seems to encapsulate much of the QbD journey: I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew (aka The Desired State). You can buy the book at Amazon, for example - I recommend it for any age.

The pre-QbD era is remembered with nostalgia early on:

I was once happy and carefree and young

And I lived in a place called the valley of Vung

And nothing, not anything ever went wrong...

Until one day, a defect / deviation / excursion from a poorly understood process occurs:

Sock! What a shock!

I stubbed my big toe

On a very hard rock

And I flew through the air

And I went for a sail

And I sprained the main bone

In the tip of my tail!

A better way to work is needed, and our hero devises a plan:

If I watch out for rocks

With my eyes straight ahead

I'll keep out of trouble

Forever, I said.

This univariate approach does not work:

And I learned there are troubles

Of more than one kind

Some come from ahead

And some come from behind.

In an apparent reference to a proven acceptable range (PAR):

I'll watch out for trouble in front and back sections

By aiming my eyeballs in different directions.

There were some difficulties with the PAT instrumentation:

I found this to be

Quite a difficult stunt

But now I was safe

Both behind and in front.

And the multivariate nature of problems makes things more difficult:

Then new troubles came ...

From above!

And below!

And now I was really in trouble, you know.

An adviser of sorts comes to his aid (in a 'One Wheeler Wubble'; e.g. via a LinkedIn group), promising:

I'm off to the city of Solla Sollew (Desired State)

On the banks of the beautiful River Wah-Hoo

Where they never have troubles! At least, very few.

They jump aboard the adviser's camel, but later encounter unforeseen issues:

So there, there we were in a dreadful position

Our camel now needed a camel physician.

In a familiar twist, our hero ends up carrying both adviser and camel, while the adviser reassurres that:

This is called teamwork. I furnish the brains

You furnish the muscles, the aches and the pains.

The journey continues with more learning experiences until finally Solla Sollew is reached, only to find that troubles have come to light even in that fabled place and the natives tell our hero:

And I'm off to the city of Boola Boo Ball...

Where they never have troubles! No troubles at all!

The hero thinks of going there, then has second thoughts:

So I started to go

But I didn't.

Instead...

I did some quick thinking

Inside of my head.

He decides to return home and solve his own problems, by obtaining appropriate tools:

I've bought a big bat

I'm all ready, you see

Now my troubles are going

To have troubles with me!

Back in the real world, there are more than two hundred of those 'bats' in DynoChem Resources.

You can hear all about them from our customers at the DynoChem 2011 Meetings in Mumbai, Chicago and London.

Great Bards of QbD: Lewis Fry Richardson

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:08:00 +0000

Integration in time (and space) of the equations of mass, momentum and energy conservation plays a growing role in QbD. An early contributor to this field was Lewis Fry Richardson, whose 1922 book, Weather Prediction by Numerical Process, laid the basis for modern weather prediction techniques. Richardson also occupied himself with understanding turbulence and like Corrsin, was briefly moved to write a verse about his ideas. Corrsin was inspired by Shakespeare; Richardson by Jonathan Swift and Augustus de Morgan to write about the cascade of energy from large to small scales:

  Big whorls have little whorls,
  Which feed on their velocity;
  And little whorls have lesser whorls,
  And so on to viscosity
  (in the molecular sense).

Many subsequent students of turbulence and mixing built on Richardson's work, and the Richardson Number is named in his honour. He also analyzed wars using mathematics and had early ideas about fractals while studying the lengths of shared borders between countries. Recipients of the Lewis Fry Richardson Medal have included Benoit Mandelbrot.

De Morgan had written:

  Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
  And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
  And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;
  While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.

Swift originally wrote (in 1733):

  So, naturalists observe, a flea
  Hath smaller fleas that on him prey;
  And these have smaller still to bite 'em;
  And so proceed ad infinitum.
  Thus every poet, in his kind,
  Is bit by him that comes behind.

Great Bards of QbD: Stanley Corrsin

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 12:07:00 +0000

When we calculate mixing timescales in reactors and crystallizers [Liquid mixing: batch and fed batch mixing times], we leverage the work of Stanley Corrsin, one of many pre-Internet scientists who laid foundations for our predictive abilities. His paper, [Simple theory of an idealized turbulent mixer, AIChE Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, pages 329–330, September 1957] showed how the time constant for mixing depended on the rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy.

Stanley loved his subject so much that he was moved to poetry. He is responsible for the following sonnet, inspired by one of Shakespeare's (Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?):

SONNET TO TURBULENCE by S. Corrsin ^[1]
For Hans Liepmann ^[2] on the occasion of his 70th birthday, with apologies to Bill S. and Liz B.B.

Shall we compare you to a laminar flow?

You are more lovely and more sinuous.

Rough winter winds shake branches free of snow,

And summer’s plumes churn up in cumulus.

How do we perceive you? Let me count the ways.

A random vortex field with strain entwined.

Fractal? Big and small swirls in the maze

May give us paradigms of flows to find.

Orthonormal forms non-linearly renew

Intricate flows with many free degrees

Or, in the latest fashion, merely few —

As strange attractor. In fact, we need Cray 3’s ^[3].

Experiment and theory, unforgiving;

For serious searcher, fun ... and it’s a living!

Registration open for DynoChem User Meetings 2011: Chicago, London and Mumbai

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Hannon) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:37:00 +0000

Registration has opened for the DynoChem 2011 User Meetings, taking place in Chicago, London and Mumbai, where pharmaceutical companies will share 'Recipes for Success' in April and May 2011. More details at http://www.scale-up.com/UGM11.html.