In this thought leadership piece, Todd Mollner, Global Product Owner – Respiratory Powders, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), tells European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer about the important of powder testing in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Todd Mollner is an engineer with over a decade of experience working at the forefront of healthcare manufacturing. His role at GSK is to ensure that the Over-The-Counter (OTC) respiratory health products produced in powder dosage form meet the highest standards of quality and robustness.
One of the challenges faced in establishing the supply chain needed to safeguard product consistency within a global marketplace can change rapidly. Drug shortages in the US have been widely reported and are a major concern. The best defence is to have multiple-suppliers that make active ingredients, and key excipients, to the same high standards.
Powder testing is central to defining those standards and determining which materials to use. Obviously, a new supplier will meet the market specification for a product but in terms of how that material will process, there is no guarantee of consistency. With the right powder testing strategy, it is possible to determine which properties define performance in any given process and the specifications of powders that will work well.
“Can you put any value of effective powder property measurement? Yes, and it’s significant…. It can easily deliver savings of up to 50 – 100 times the cost of the instrument.”
To read the interview in full please click here to visit the European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer website.