Collaboration Facilitates Continuous Manufacturing – Working together to make a difference

During the recent ACHEMA trade show, which took place in Frankfurt, Germany (11–15 June), GEA hosted a joint press conference with other key suppliers to the pharmaceutical sector to highlight a number of industry collaborations that are helping to facilitate the uptake of continuous manufacturing (CM) technology in the drug production sector.

Commenting on the event, Phil Gabb, Head of Solid Dosage Sales Support, GEA, said: “All the companies at the press conference have been actively collaborating with providers of complementary technologies and solutions. This is allowing us to deliver the services and infrastructure that our customers need to be able to implement continuous manufacturing.”

“There are several hurdles to negotiate when a company in the pharmaceutical industry decides to adopt continuous manufacturing. And whereas GEA can supply a wide range of process technology solutions, we don’t have the skills or capabilities in every service area to solve all the problems that might arise,” noted Gabb.

The key message, he added, is about companies working together to help the pharmaceutical industry overcome the different challenges involved in adopting continuous manufacturing. The companies involved included

• Accenture: a leading global professional services company helping pharma clients to shape their strategies around CM and to manage their long-term operations transformation
• G-CON Manufacturing: designs, produces and installs prefabricated, autonomous cleanroom PODs for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries
• GEA: one of the largest suppliers of process technology to advanced manufacturing industries, and a leader in the development of CM process solution for Solid Dosage Development and Production
• Leistritz: a developer, manufacturer and marketer of engineered products for the process and pharmaceutical industries
• MG2: technology leaders in capsule filling
• Perceptive Engineering: Perceptive Engineering: develops and deploys advanced analytics and intelligent control systems to blue-chip clients around the world
• RCPE: An international research center specialized in pharmaceutical engineering and predictive science applied to develop mechanistic understanding of products and processes
• Siemens: world leading provider of digital solutions over the entire value chain and more in particular of PAT Data Management platforms for continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing

"By collaborating with industry peers, we are all leading the way towards smaller, more flexible continuous processing technologies that have the potential to transform the future of pharmaceutical development and manufacturing — and deliver customized quantities of drugs to patients in need in a quick and efficient way," comments Gabb.

“With ConsiGma®, we certainly have a state-of-the-art CM solution and we’re committed to making science work, but we can’t do it all. This collaboration is all about a group of companies who are willing and able to co-operate in a particular area of business for the greater good of the pharmaceutical industry and, above all, the patient.”

For further information about GEA’s processes, products and solutions, contact our experts at gea.com/contact, or via our Facebook page @GEAPharma