My interest in the adoption of continuous manufacturing at pharmaceutical manufacturers was sparked by a customer who contacted us to support them with the exact dosing of pharmaceutical excipients. This customer was planning a continuous Pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.
Batch process manufacturing
Traditionally, most human pharmaceuticals are manufactured in a step by step batch process with extensive tests between steps to ensure consistent quality and efficacy of the finished medicine. The manufacture of pharmaceuticals is a highly-regulated process with Government agencies inspecting and approving both the process and the facilities where medicines are manufactured. In 2016 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed for the first time in its history a manufacturer to switch from the traditional batch manufacturing process to a continuous manufacturing process