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In this eLN supplement: eLNs - An essential productivity tool - but which one to use?; Using an eLN to create GMP compliant records for drug substance manufacture; Implementation of an electronic lab notebook system at VIB; eLN roundtable...
31 August 2011 | By Jakob Beirowski and Henning Gieseler, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Division of Pharmaceutics, Freeze Drying Focus Group
The underlying concept for the stabilisation of proteins during freeze drying is the formation of a glassy matrix in which the macromolecules remain isolated and immobilised. The concept relies on the so-called ‘vitrification hypothesis’ which assumes that the formation of an amorphous phase by lyoprotectants is mandatory to interact with…
31 August 2011 | By Michael J. Miller, President, Microbiology Consultants, LLC
This is the fourth in a series of articles on rapid microbiological methods that will appear in European Pharmaceutical Review during 2011. Previously, we discussed a number of cellular-component rapid microbiological methods (RMMs), such as ATP bioluminescence, fatty acid analysis, MALDI and SELDI time of flight mass spectrometry, Fourier transform-infrared…
31 August 2011 | By Linda Skowronsky, Senior Microbiologist, GlaxoSmithKline
Several intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence microbial growth. Two important factors include the presence of available moisture and a supportive temperature. The conditions described in ICH Topic Q1A (R2)1 do not allow the organisms of interest in pharmaceutical solids to grow, due to either an unfavourable temperature or humidity. For…
31 August 2011 | By Jerome Giovannoni and J.M. Peltier, Novartis
The constant growth of compound collections, combined with screening efforts on more challenging targets, is creating an increasing demand for quality control in order to ensure the integrity of the compound solutions being tested. This is true throughout the early drug discovery pipeline, from hit identification to lead nomination. Novartis…
31 August 2011 | By S. Assi, S. Fergus, J.L. Stair, O. Corazza and F. Schifano, University of Hertfordshire
Designer drugs represent a rapidly expanding phenomenon particularly facilitated by their internet availability. These drugs are continuously emerging as analogues of controlled substances (amfetamine, aminoindane, cathinone, phencyclidine, etc) and once an analogue has been banned, another replacement analogue appears on the market. They are often made in unlicensed laboratories which…
31 August 2011 | By Geoff Holdgate, AstraZeneca
Recently, there has been renewed interest in using thermodynamic and kinetic data, alongside empirical rules (particularly focused upon cLogP and molecular weight) and guiding metrics such as ligand efficiency and lipophilic ligand efficiency developed for fragments, leads and drugs in order to facilitate the design of compounds with a greater…
Rapid Micro Biosystems is a privately owned, venture backed company with headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts. Since launching its GrowthDirect™ System in 2008, the company has now moved into Europe with the opening of its new demo centre in Darmstadt, Germany in June 2011. So, how does CEO Steve Delity view…
20 June 2011 | By Magida Zeaiter - GlaxoSmithKline, Mark Morton - Phoenix Scientific Services, Joachim Ermer - Head of Quality Control Services Frankfurt Chemistry - Sanofi
Featuring articles: "A basis for innovation and continuous improvement of process understanding and control in pharmaceutical product development" by Magida Zeaiter, GlaxoSmithKline, "Flexible processing assures product quality" by Mark Morton, Phoenix Scientific Services and "Quality by design: A lifecycle concept for pharmaceutical analysis" by Joachim Ermer, Head of Quality Control…
20 June 2011 | By Michael J. Miller, President, Microbiology Consultants, LLC
This is the third in a series of articles on rapid microbiological methods that will appear in European Pharmaceutical Review during 2011. In my last article, I provided an overview of viability-based rapid microbiological methods (RMMs), such as flow and solid-phase cytometry. In this article, we will review some of…
Time of flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) has been an attractive choice of instrument for many years due to its potentially unlimited m/z range, high-speed acquisition, accurate mass measurement capability and sensitivity. Originally commercialised in the late 1950’s by the Bendix Corporation1, several physical and technical issues of the early TOF…
20 June 2011 | By Guihua Sun, Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Science and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope and John J. Rossi. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope
Treatment and cure of human immunodeficiency virus-1(HIV-1) infection remains one of the greatest therapeutic challenges due to its persistent infection, often leading to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Although it has been 28 years since the discovery of the virus, the development of an effective vaccine is still far away. Relatively…
20 June 2011 | By Lorna Ashton and Royston Goodacre, School of Chemistry, Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre, University of Manchester
In recent years, Raman spectroscopy has been successfully applied to bioprocessing, including industrial processes. Raman studies have typically been aimed at measuring accurately both product yields and the presence of secondary products; including glucose and ethanol levels as well as secondary metabolites present in complex non-fractionated fermentation broths1,2. However, Raman…
20 June 2011 | By Willem G.E.J. Schoonen, Walter M.A. Westerink, Femke M. van de Water and G. Jean Horbach, Department of Toxicology & Drug Disposition, Merck Sharp & Dohme
The application of High Content Screening for in vitro toxicity testing is a relatively new approach in the preclinical research phase of drug development. A battery of tests have been developed for screening on general parameters such as cytotoxicity, while more dedicated assays are available with respect to the identification…
20 June 2011 | By Asta Zubrienė, Egidijus Kazlauskas, Lina Baranauskienė, Vytautas Petrauskas and Daumantas Matulis, Department of Biothermodynamics and Drug Design, Vilnius University Institute of Biotechnology
Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a method of choice in the pharmaceutical industry for determination of equilibrium binding enthalpy, entropy, and the Gibbs free energy. The method is very powerful for determination of intrinsic binding parameters that could be used in structure-energetics correlations. Here we discuss how to overcome several…
