(442b) Investigation of Electrostatic Properties of Powders to Improve the Continuous Manufacturing of Pharmaceutical Products

Continuous manufacturing is a promising future for the production of pharmaceuticals. The continuous processing of pharmaceutical materials can lead to a drift in the powder properties. Therefore, the powder properties evaluated by the characterization before production can be different from the ones observed at the different stages of the production line. This can lead to a lack of processability, a higher variability and to final products that do not meet the strict regulatory requirements.

One of the main problems encountered in the continuous manufacturing of pharmaceutical products is the electrostatic charge buildup that is inherent to the flow of powders. Indeed, tribocharging mechanisms due to the frictional contact between the particles lead to the continuous buildup of electrostatic charges inside the material. These charges contribute to the global cohesiveness of the material, which is associated with a decrease in its flowability. Furthermore, electrostatically charged powders have a high tendency to stick on the surface, leading to the clogging of pipes and inducing variability in the flow. Finally, electrostatic charges can lead to strong agglomeration drastically changing the powder behavior.

A proper characterization is thus essential to allow efficient optimization of the pharmaceutical formulations to be used in continuous manufacturing processes. However, current standardized powder characterization procedures are usually based on old and simple methods that prevent tackling the complexity arising from continuous manufacturing. Especially, electrostatic properties are not taken into account in the common characterization workflow. In this presentation, a new method allowing to precisely evaluate the tribocharging propensity of powders will be presented (GranuCharge, GranuTools). In addition, the useful insights gathered from electrostatic characterization will be demonstrated through practical case studies.