Among other industries, the pharmaceutical industry has a distinguished spot because of the vast revenue generated by the industry each year. Although the dosage forms of pharmaceutical medications are a vast spectrum, mainly they can be divided into; solid and liquid forms. Among several steps in drug manufacturing, aseptic filling and finishing are challenging ones. Many known pharmaceutical companies are in the process of overcoming the following challenges:
1. Protection From Contamination:
Drug manufacturing is a complex process in itself and most pharmaceutical companies pay more attention to other aspects of manufacturing than to filling. Aseptic filling conditions are necessary for a product free from contamination. More and more pharmaceutical companies are realizing the importance of aseptic filling and have inculcated this process in their manufacturing workflow now.
2. Precision in Sterility:
One of the major concerns of the aseptic filling process is sterility and it comes with many challenges. Precision is the key to sterility. A minor breach can cause the contamination of the whole batch resulting in financial strain. If the contaminated product is put on the market, patients’ safety is at risk. Therefore, each fill and finish should be carefully inspected and a strict criterion of product inspection should be put into place. With the improvement of equipment, the precision in sterility has improved but it remains the number one challenge of the industry. The rapid advancements in the industry have caused the speculation that the global pharmaceutical aseptic filling industry will grow to 735.5 billion dollars till 2030
3. Filling Precise Doses:
It is well known that most drugs including vaccines are given in specific doses. Accuracy of filling the precise dose is another great challenge because the lack or increase of appropriate doses can have devastating effects on the patient. High-end technology and equipm=emnt are necessary to ensure that the specific dose filling is done. Another important factor to manage while filling is — the prevention of spillage of product. Spillage can become the home for microbes because they thrive in wet environments causing contamination of other batches.
4. Compliance With Regulations:
The Food and drug administration has very strict criteria for filling and finishing the enterprise of the pharmaceutical industry. For the products to enter the market and stay there, all FDA regulations must be followed. These requirements can not be met unless the fill and finish criterion is properly safeguarded and regulated. The regulations of fill and finish are applied to all the batch sizes of manufacturing.
Concluding Thoughts:
Fill and finish protections reduce the contamination of products, improves accuracy and efficacy of the product, increase manufacturing productivity and reduce batch rejection possibilities and financial strain. Process-controlled instrumentation is the first line safeguard technique for the fill and finish industry.
The fill and finish industry is rapidly growing as mentioned before. It makes it more crucial to bring the contamination, risk management, and regulatory compliance under control to offer the best finished products. To stay on top of the fill and finish industry, new equipment coupled with innovative technology should be instilled in the business model.