Research

Because of the instability of biopharmaceutical products in their solution state, efficient freeze-drying is essential to the manufacture of modern medicines. Freeze-drying, also called lyophilization, gently removes water from materials to produce a dried product. It was developed during World War II to preserve blood products and penicillin. Lyophilization is often used to stabilize sensitive drugs, lengthening their shelf life while preserving the critical efficacy of the medicine. Purdue professor Alina Alexeenko is a key innovator in using radio-frequency-assisted techniques for lyophilization, to significantly accelerate the drying process.

Continuous manufacturing is a key innovative technology in pharmaceutical production. Unlike the traditional “batch” method with its stop-and-start cycles, continuous manufacturing offers the potential for greater efficiency and less waste. It also enables “on demand” production of personalized medicines and mobile manufacturing at the point of use. It allows for the production of “on demand” personalized medicines and mobile manufacturing at the point of use. Purdue professor Rex Reklaitis is an expert at continuous manufacturing and specializes in the use of online measurement technology and models to drive automation and control. Continuous manufacturing is common in some other industries but has been slow to gain adoption in pharmaceuticals, Reklaitis said. “It’s an anomaly in that it’s an industry that thrives on innovation in terms of discovering a new therapy but has really not worried about innovation and how to get it out to the patient and do it as cheaply as possible.” The Young Institute, and Reklaitis, are out to change that.