Innomech develops system to accelerate commercialisation of a dry particle coating

Automation consultancy GB Innomech has announced the development of a pilot-scale production system for Aston Particle Technologies (APT). This system will help APT speed up the commercialisation of its dry particle coating technology for use within the pharma industry.

APT’s one-step particle engineering technology has been designed to enable the dry powder coating of ‘challenging’ active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) onto carrier particles, without the need for heat, solvents or pressure. This technology is targeted for use in the development of new dry powder inhaler formulations.

Innomech’s production system can process up to two kilograms of pharmaceutical powders, which increases the current capacity of APT’s equipment. The company states that it ‘provides a fluidised environment for particle contact and absorption of cohesive material over coarse particles without the need for solvent or heat’. The system can monitor and maintain the required process conditions through pressure and temperature sensors, as well as a heat exchanger.

“Innomech is the perfect system development partner for Aston Particle Technologies because of its extensive knowledge and experience in developing equipment for use in pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing environments. The company’s new pilot-scale system will allow us to demonstrate the scalability of our technology and to carry out further process development studies for a range of pharmaceutical applications,” said Professor Afzal Mohammed, CTO and founder of Aston Particle Technologies.