December 28, 2011 -- GEA Pharma Systems has announced a new order for its Flexstream™ technology, taken on the stand at last month’s P-MEC India exhibition in Mumbai. The order was from Micro Labs Ltd. a rapidly developing, multi-faceted drug manufacturing company with 14 production sites in India.
Navin Lakhanpaul, Business Unit Head for GEA Pharma Systems in India, said that he was delighted both with the new order and with the show in general. “The show was more international than it has been in the past with a large number of visitors from emerging markets, especially Africa,” he said. “To get the Micro Labs order was a great boost for us. It is a very important reference for us in this growing market.”
FlexStream™ is the world leading process technology for spray granulation and pellet coating providing greater productivity and lower running costs than ordinary systems and a robust and scaleable process. The Micro Labs Ltd. order was for a FlexStream™ 6000 model. “We were very impressed to find this European 10 Bar PSR Flexstream technology, readily available at a price performance level that meets our requirement,” explained Prakash Mudda (Technical Director) Micro Labs.
FlexStream™ consists of a fluid bed product bowl with several two-fluid atomization nozzles to distribute the granulation or coating liquid directly into the fluidized powder or pellet layer. A third low-pressure air stream comes directly from the fluid bed inlet plenum to create a particle-free area around the spray pattern of each nozzle. Using low pressure gives much better control of the granulation and coating processes with less fines, less agglomeration when coating pellets and a significantly improved yield.
The Micro Labs application requires FlexStream™ coating technology to be used with organic-based solvents. The technology features a 10-bar pressure shock resistant fluid bed which provides an additional secondary basis of safety in the unlikely event that an explosion occurs. “This was a critical feature and consideration for us,” explained Prakash.
GEA Pharma Systems at P-MEC
GEA Pharma Systems showed two complete solid dose production plants on the stand at P-MEC India. The centre piece was the 1200 litre integrated granulation and drying line that showed the manufacturing process at full production levels from the dispensing of raw materials to the finished tablet. The system incorporated a number of user-selected options and an advanced WIP cleaning system. This modular approach allows customers to select standard process modules to suit individual needs. After the show the system was due for delivery to Zydus Cadila, the global pharmaceutical company.
Also on the stand was the contained pilot-scale granulation system straight from its debut at Interpack in Düsseldorf in May. It is GEA’s contained pilot-scale granulation system, designed with high containment in mind and incorporating Flexstream™ with GEA’s PharmaConnect® and Hicoflex® technologies with Buck® split valves and the revolutionary MODUL™ tablet press from Courtoy™. It is a complete pilot-scale production plant aimed at producers of small quantities of highly potent compounds. The system on show clearly demonstrated the flexibility that can be achieved throughout the process – including high shear granulation, pelletization and blending, etc. – in a totally contained environment.
The pilot plant illustrated how GEA Pharma Systems’ inspired technology can be selected to form a complete production system tailored for each customer. The system is inherently flexible, efficient, clean and safe for small volume production. It also provides containment down to nanogram levels doing away with expensive, bulky and difficult to clean isolator systems or costly and uncomfortable airsuits, allowing the users to focus on the product, creating faster and more secure results.
The MODUL™ tablet press
The MODUL™ tablet presses from Courtoy™ were included as key equipment in both pilot and production-scale plants. They provide fast product changeover and high containment through the use of their compact Exchangeable Compression Modules (ECM) that contain all the product-contact components in a single module that protects the operator during production and can be manually switched in just 30 minutes at product changeover and washed off-line (WOL). MODUL™ tablet presses have taken their place as trusted technology worldwide since their introduction.
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About GEA Pharma Systems
GEA Pharma Systems unites the technologies of Aeromatic-Fielder™, Buck™, Collette™, Courtoy™, Diessel™, and Lyophil™ to provide advanced one-stop solutions for solid and liquid dosage processing to the global pharmaceutical industry.
