Applications of In Silico Solvent Screening and an Interactive Web-Based Portal for Pharmaceutical Crystallization Process Development.

In an effort to reduce development time and costs associated with active pharmaceutical ingredient process solvent selection and crystallization design, a tiered approach to crystallization solvent selection was developed that leverages different solubility modeling tools selected on the basis of available data and the intended use of the prediction. To facilitate easy access to routine solubility modeling functionality with a high level of automation and parallelization, a web-based in silico solvent-screening tool was also developed as well as a user interface to visualize and interpret the large number of predicted results. Examples are presented to illustrate the utility of the workflow and solvent-screening tool at various stages of development for a diverse range of crystallization processes.

Particle engineering: a strategy for establishing drug substance physical property specifications during small molecule development.

A strategy for physical property control of a drug substance has been developed that utilizes a science-based approach to define key drivers for particle control. These drivers are based on in vivo performance (or expected performance), content uniformity of the drug substance in drug product, and manufacturability of drug product. Quality by design principles have been used in developing the strategy.

NIR chemical imaging to guide/support BMS-561389 tablet formulation development.

The objective of this study was to determine whether the particle size of extra-granular tartaric acid affects the uniformity of its distribution within BMS-561389 tablets. A near-infrared imaging technique was used to assess the distribution of tartaric acid near the surface of tablet tops and bottoms. Three batches of BMS-561389 tablets were manufactured using three lots of granular tartaric acid having different particle size distributions.

Surface character of pulp fibres studied using endoglucanases.

The endoglucanase Cel5A from Trichoderma reesei and an endoglucanase from Aspergillus sp. (Novozym 476 from Novozyme A/S) were evaluated as probes for the surface properties of soft- and hardwood chemical pulp fibres. The hydrolysis time curves were in accordance with a two-phase degradation model described by a biexponential function.

Recent developments on cellulases and carbohydrate-binding modules with cellulose affinity.

This review concerns basic research on cellulases and cellulose-specific carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs). As a background, glycosyl hydrolases are also briefly reviewed. The nomenclature of cellulases and CBMs is discussed.