Freeze-drying of antibiotic vials: monitoring and optimizing process trajectories on an industrial scale

There has been an increased use of freeze-drying in the pharmaceutical industry over the past few decades. This step converts a liquid product into a solid one without compromising its integrity, thus prolonging its shelf life. The monitoring and optimization of this process is commonly done by trial-and-error, leading to product quality control issues. Therefore, the implementation of new monitoring tools in this process could allow a better understanding and control. However, the monitoring of freeze-drying process faces some problems in the application, mainly due to non-uniformity of the product in the freeze-dryer. The combined use of non-invasive techniques to monitor temperature, pressure, atmosphere composition seems promising. The objective of this project is therefore to develop tools and methods to monitor an industrial freeze-drying process. This work will be carried out in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ryan Gosselin

Student:

Mohammed Azheruddin

Partner:

Pfizer Canada Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Pharmaceuticals

University:

Program: