Almac Group Expands Laboratory Scale Jet Milling Capabilities for Formulation and Toxicology Studies

August 2, 2022

Craigavon, Northern Ireland – August 2022 – Almac Sciences, a member of the Almac Group, has invested in additional milling capabilities to now provide small scale, non-GMP prototype batches of jet milled material for formulation trials and toxicology studies, including a new Hosokawa Alpine 50AS spiral jet for micronisation of drug substance prepared directly from a tightly controlled crystallization process.

Jet milling can be an essential process to reduce the particle size of a powder to less than 10 µm. It is also well recognized that by reducing the particle size of a drug substance, the surface area of the powder increases to support faster dissolution or adsorption, subsequently improving its bioavailability. This approach is commonly used for drugs that exhibit poor aqueous solubility or for drugs that are inhaled.

By introducing a Hosokawa Alpine 50AS Spiral Jet mill to Almac Sciences’ toolbox, Almac is now offering small scale non-GMP jet milling on gram to kilogram scale to support the existing GMP jet milling service offering.

Dr Jonathan Loughrey, Physical Sciences Manager, Almac Sciences, commented: “Milling and micronisation are key technologies for pharmaceutical development. Using our experience and knowledge of solid form and formulation development, we are now able to take the next step into providing non-GMP prototype batches of jet milled material for formulation trials and tox studies. By using the existing expertise and available equipment for materials characterization, the Physical Sciences group can now prepare and characterize prototype jet milled batches for direct shipment to our clients or a site specified by them”.

Professor Tom Moody, VP Technology Development and Commercialization, Almac Sciences and Arran Chemical Company, commented: “Almac Sciences is a science and technology partner, and we are committed to investing in the latest equipment and key technologies to accelerate drug development. We listen to the needs of our clients and are happy to have closed a capability gap in our existing jet milling and micronisation service offering. Being able to offer this key technology from gram to kilogram scale to support non-GMP drug substance development, we can help to accelerate development of drug substances that may exhibit challenging solubility profiles so life changing treatments may be available to patients faster.”

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About Almac Group

A unique culture delivering exceptional solutions

The Almac Group is an established contract development and manufacturing organization providing an extensive range of integrated services across the drug development lifecycle to the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors globally.

Its innovative services range from R&D, biomarker discovery development and commercialization, API manufacture, analytical services, formulation development, clinical trial supply, IRT (IVRS/IWRS) through to commercial-scale manufacture.

The international company is a privately owned organization which has grown organically over the past five decades now employing over 5,600 highly skilled personnel across 18 facilities including Europe, the US and Asia.

To keep up to date with latest news, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn or visit almacgroup.com.

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