This week the Spanish contract manufacturing and development organisation (CDMO) announced plans to install GEA’s Niro Mobile Minor spray drying technology at its 4,000 sq. ft. plant in Pamplona, Spain.
GEA described the technology as a flexible and easy-to-handle spray dryer, which dries small quantities of solutions, suspensions or emulsions into powder samples.
According to the CDMO, the platform can be applied to highly potent drugs up to occupational exposure limit (OEL) or occupational exposure band (OEB) category four, as well as non-potent drugs.
“The fact that there are so few service providers with this technology means that high potency capabilities will likely be a key factor to attract potent drugs, but not exclusively,” we were told.
“By making this investment, we will be able to provide contract manufacturing services for intermediate products,” said general manager Luis Oquiñena.
This enables Idifarma to provide the whole service for finished dosage oral solid drugs, he added.
The technology will be installed and qualified in mid-2018.
Improved bioavailability
The investment is driven by client demand, as clients look to spray drying to improve the bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs, said Oquiñena.
“Idifarma now has all the ingredients to support our customers’ spray drying projects at different scales and contribute to accelerated drug development and manufacturing timelines,” he added.
Idifarma also made investments in capsule filling services at the facility in late 2016 and July 2017.