Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology

Bram Bekaert

Bram Bekaert

Laboratory of Pharmaceutical TechnologyBram Bekaert
Ottergemsesteenweg 460
B-9000 Gent(Belgium)
Tel. : +32-9-264.81.18
E-mail :



Biography


Pharm. Bekaert Bram graduated as pharmacist in 2017 from Ghent University where he obtained his master in Drug Development.  For his Master’s thesis, he evaluated an alternative dry product resistance determination for a continuous freeze-drying process. In 2017,  he started his PhD research on the evaluation and optimization of feeding and blending in a continuous direct compression line.

Summary of Research Project(s)

General aim
 
Continuous processing is gaining momentum for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Recently, GEA Pharma Systems launched a modular ‘3-in-1’ manufacturing platform with the following manufacturing routes: continuous wet granulation (WG) via twin screw granulation, continuous dry granulation (DG) via roller compaction and continuous direct compression (DC). Process knowledge about this innovative manufacturing platform is limited within the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, it is the goal to build a scientific knowledge base for the continuous manufacturing platform which is crucial to bridge the gap between the existing technology and its industrial implementation.

Specific aims and work packages

With this project, process understanding and knowledge will be build up specifically for the feeding and blending stage of the continuous manufacturing system. Specific aspects need to be investigated:
•    Characterization of blend properties for conventionally used excipients and model active pharmaceutical ingredients.
•    Evaluation of feeding and continuous blending performance in terms of process parameters and blend properties.
•    Evaluation of process analytical technology (PAT) tools to enable process monitoring.
•    Construction of a predictive platform to predict Critical Process Parameters (CPP’s) for newly developed API’s and excipients
Derive and model the residence time distribution (RTD) for the blending unit operation of the manufacturing system as a function of process parameters and blend properties.