A non-destructive analysis technology for coated tablets, which was recently highlighted as a potential alternative to wet dissolution, is to be made available as a service by Melbourn Scientific.
This follows an agreement with Teraview, developers of terahertz solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.
Terahertz Pulsed Imaging (TPI) is a quick non-destructive technology developed by Teraview that can generate precise 3D images of solid dosage systems.
These images can be used to identify and quantify key quality attributes such as coating uniformity, thickness and porosity.
By combining Teraview TPI with the wider analytical capabilities of Melbourn, this agreement will make the full power of TPI available to pharmaceutical companies.
TPI, when used with other established tools, enables the creation of chemometric models that relate the product's performance to its physical characteristics.
This is particularly relevant for modified release and control release products.
Mark Hammond, chief executive of Melbourn Scientific, believes that the service will provide benefits both within product development and scale up.
'The TPI system developed by Teraview enables, for example, the analysis of the tablet coating prior to its dissolution,' he said.
'This provides new insights and will enable us to quickly correlate the release of the active ingredient with the density or thickness of the coating.
'This increased understanding then allows trouble free scale up and product optimisation,' he added.
'Modified release coatings can be difficult to scale up as there is a need to change process parameters as well as batch size,' said Dr Don Arnone, chief executive of Teraview.
'With the development of TPI, it is now possible to directly and non-destructively assess the impact of changing process conditions on the critical quality attributes of the coating.
'By offering TPI as a service alongside its existing capabilities, Melbourn Scientific will enable its customers to achieve faster development of new products, as well as helping to ensure that these products remain in spec and compliant during development and once they are on the market,' he added.
