Economics And Safety Make The Case For Continuous Flow Processing

By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

Is continuous flow the next wave in small molecule API manufacturing? Industry experts Dominique Roberge of Lonza, Jaeyon Yoon of SK Life Science, Eoin McManus of Eli Lilly, and David Pfisterer of Pfizer all contributed to a discussion on this topic for just over two and a half hours at DCAT Week ’13 in New York City. All of them painted a bright picture for the use of continuous flow in manufacturing. James Bruno, managing director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Solutions, Inc. and former DCAT president, moderated the event and shared his thoughts on the benefits, applications, and FDA considerations regarding continuous flow.

When discussing the benefits of implementing a continuous flow process, economics is typically at the top of the every list. The reduced footprint of a continuous flow facility means a reduced plant size and, therefore, reduced energy costs to operate the facility. Even bigger savings will be seen in energy costs related to the process itself. Bruno notes savings in the range of 20% to 30%, simply from the heating and cooling of the materials, is not uncommon. Couple these savings with a lower-investment cost and the economic benefits of continuous flow are readily apparent. “I often speak to clients about scale up issues and investment in equipment,” he says. “With a continuous flow process, if a market does not materialize, companies will not have invested in unneeded capacity. The process also allows them to scale up more rapidly if demand does happen to increase.”