Chemistry and Engineering Technology Center, PharmaBlock, Zhejiang
PharmaBlock Sciences (Nanjing), Inc. has opened a new Chemistry and Engineering Technology Center (CETC), the company announced on April 15.
Chemistry and Engineering Technology Center (CETC) Location
The new Chemistry and Engineering Technology Center (CETC) is located next to the PharmaBlock GMP manufacturing plant in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province, China. Covering an area of 32,300 ft2, the ultra-modern Zhejiang CETC was constructed with an investment of approximately 8 million USD.
The introduction of the new CETC would further enhance the chemistry and engineering technology network of PharmaBlock, while supporting a greener, safer and more efficient chemistry process and production capability.
PharmaBlock’s CETC technology
Featuring cutting edge equipment and experienced chemists and engineers, the Chemistry and Engineering Technology Center is dedicated to delivering innovative solutions with a focus on flow chemistry, micropacked bed reaction, biocatalysis, and an a wide spectrum of engineering technologies, including but not limited to separation, crystallization, and application of Distributed Control System (DCS) and process simulation.
Dr. Minmin Yang, Founder & Chairman of PharmaBlock stated:
“Today, increased pressure for green, safe and sustainable supply chain management within the pharmaceutical industry has given rise to innovative chemistry and engineering technologies. We consider innovative technologies a fundamental part and cornerstone of PharmaBlock’s current and future success, and as a key component of our overall innovation strategy, the CETC will definitely consolidate our competitiveness.”
Application of Micropacked Bed Technology in Continuous Manufacturing
Amongst the new technologies integrated by PharmaBlock, the highlight is the application of micropacked bed technology in flow hydrogenation. This niche problem-solving micropacked bed technology, which has been increasingly adopted in the pharmaceutical industry, is not only applied in lab scale, but also in pilot and manufacturing scale at PharmaBlock, with a daily output of 100Kg to 1000Kg.
Dr. Yuanping Jie, Head of CETC added:
“Micropacked beds have been successfully applied to the development and manufacturing of several dozen of our projects. We have seen many superiorities micropacked bed creates over conventional methods: lower safety risk, lower wastes, cost and space saving, consistent quality, and robust process with simple control.”
“In addition to the existing 5L and 10L micropacked bed reactors designed by our in-house engineering team, the CETC will add more scale-up equipment, expand the application into more reaction types, like oxidation, and enhance the automated mode to further ensure safety and high efficiency.”
Benefits of the new Zhejiang CETC
PharmaBlock’s customers will benefit from the addition of the CETC in many ways, the company stated in their press release. Most importantly, by being located next to the Zhejiang GMP site, the new CETC will support more innovative solutions to help overcome scale up challenges in customers’ projects, resulting in shortened lead times and overall costs savings. The CETC also takes responsibility to optimise the scaling up process of PharmaBlock’s building blocks, which could be broadly used in many drug development and clinical drug manufacturing settings.
