Continuous Processing Capabilities
The development of agile, continuous manufacturing (CM) systems will be one of the most significant changes in the pharmaceutical industry in the next 10 years. Flexible development options will facilitate the commercial manufacturing process and enable greater process understanding to be achieved with smaller quantities of material.
At GEA, we believe that continuous processing improves the quality of pharmaceutical end products by focusing on quality during the whole product lifecycle — not just “tested in” quality — and by understanding the capability of your processes, managing sources of variability and decreasing any associated risks.
Our test facilities enable you to investigate the possibilities that continuous manufacturing can offer for your production.
GEA Pharma Solids Center (GPSC) in Wommelgem, Belgium
Continuous Wet Granulation and Drying Technologies
Taking a blue-sky powder-to-tablet approach to pharmaceutical manufacturing, ConsiGma® offers continuous oral solid dosage granulation, drying and tablet compression in a single production line. In the GPSC, both R&D and production-scale equipment is available to optimize your process and products:
- ConsiGma® 1 - for initial continuous wet granulation trials, feasibility and first DoE tests.
- Continuous Tableting Line ConsiGma® CTL 25 - continuous wet granulation and drying production line, able to operate at a nominal throughput of 25 kg/h. Tablet compression and tablet coating can immediately be linked to the granulation and drying process to evaluate the full continuous process.
Continuous Direct Compression
Available in the GPSC for product trials, the ConsiGma® CDC is a complete tablet production facility with embedded quality control in one machine, integrating four key GEA technologies — accurate loss-in-weight (LIW) feeding, continuous blending, GEA compression technology and the online measurement of CQAs (Critical Quality Attributes) with a Lighthouse Probe. Integration with SiPAT and PharmaMV for data analysis is also available.
- Off-line Continuous Feeder CF - to investigate the right set-up of the feeder for your ingredients before moving to the full production line.
- Continuous Direct Compression line ConsiGma® CDC 50 - integrated feeding, (linear) blending and compression at a nominal throughput of 50 kg/h.
High-Performance Tablet Coating Technology
The ConsiGma® Gentle coater is a revolutionary, high-performance tablet coating technology that, compared with traditional systems offer improved coating uniformity at lower weight gains and lower tablet attrition because of its unique cascade dynamics and spray/substrate interaction. Designed specifically to be an integral part of the ConsiGma® continuous tableting lines, the ConsiGma® Gentle coater is able to process small quantities of tablets at very high rates, offering improved heat and mass transfer.
Process Technology Center (PTC) in Columbia, MD, USA
- Precision LIW compact feeding
- ConsiGma® 1 - R&D size twin-screw granulation rig
- ConsiGma® Gentle coater
- NexGen Press® 30 - compression technology for direct process transfer
- ConsiGma® CDB 1 - continuous dispensing blending unit with a Lighthouse Probe for the measurement of critical attributes.
