Continuous processing and microreactor technology Emerging technologies at the forefront of change in pharmaceutical and fine chemical manufacturing

摘要

Organic synthesis - and its application in the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries - is a mature discipline, dominated by batch wise production processes that seemingly trace their roots back to the cauldron of alchemical times. One of the major distinctions of batch production is the size of modern production facilities: economies of scale are achieved by increasing reactor volumes and throughput. Nowadays, the alchemist's gold sought in synthetic processes takes the form of active pharmaceutical ingredients, where the pharmaceutical industry pushes on with its quest for innovative, proprietary drugs. The high value-added nature of such innovative pharmaceutical products, coupled with a profound reluctance to implement post-filing process changes, often relegates manufacturing considerations to a lower priority. Consequently, and speaking very frankly, fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals have become industries of waste. The magnitude of the problem is starkly illustrated by the high environmental "E factor" that characterizes these industries, which is rarely lower than 25 (E = kg of waste per kg of product). These industries remain burdened with stoichiometric technologies that generate large quantities of inorganic wastes. Low process efficiencies are exacerbated by poor track records in product quality. Failed batches and related quality costs can account for up to 25 percent of total costs, far exceeding that found in any other manufacturing industry.