ESR Project 1

Crystallization of aqueous injectable API suspensions with LA activity using antisolvent precipitation

PhD awarded by:

University of Limerick

Secondments:

Janssen, Belgium 18 months, University of Limerick, Ireland (15 months), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (3 months)

Supervisors:

Rene Holm (Janssen), Sarah Hudson (UL), Lidia Tajber (TCD)

Eligibility Criteria:

Minimum BSc in chemical engineering, physical chemistry or related discipline
Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity in Belgium for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the date of application.

Start Date:

March 2020

Project Details

The goal of this project is to produce an injectable suspension of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) via a crystallisation approach which can continue to release the API for a specific time (~ 6 months) and is biocompatible with the body.

. Optimal process conditions and excipients will be selected to obtain a specific crystal size distribution using a high throughput screening approach. The objectives of this project are for the ESR to gain skills and generate data on the nucleation and crystal growth of the selected class of APIs during antisolvent precipitation. Molecular dynamics simulations on each active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) model system, excipient and solvent/antisolvent system will be conducted. In situ monitoring will support the proposed mechanisms by which the crystallization process is proceeding with control over the resultant polymorphic form demonstrated. API suspensions will also be produced with the same crystal size distributions using industrially accepted top down approaches. Controlled release kinetics, stability and bioactivity of the resulting suspensions in biorelevant media suitable for the target application of the relevant API will be compared.