Many workflows in Pharmaceutical R&D involve the manipulation of defined amounts of powders. Automated powder dispensing platforms are currently available; however, these existing technologies do not meet the requirements for every high-throughput experimentation powder dispensing application. A Working Group (WG) composed of pharmaceutical researchers within the Enabling Technologies Consortium (ETC) evaluated automated platforms commercially available from three manufacturers using an objective, systematic testing protocol. This paper describes the selection of powders and testing conditions used in this evaluation, and it assesses the impact that the powders, testing conditions, equipment environment, and other factors had on the performance of the selected platforms.

Multidisciplinary collaboration enables the rapid and efficient design and selection of an improved manufacturing route to a new potential medicine for the treatment of asthma.

The kinetics and mechanism of the synthesis of the sulfonylguanidine 2 by reaction of the corresponding aniline, 1, with cyanamide have been investigated in aqueous acid solution. The reaction is acid-catalysed, but at low pH, where substantial protonation of 1 occurs, the dominant reaction occurring is a competing hydrolysis of cyanamide to urea. It is shown that reactions run under pH control in the region of pH 2 achieve close to maximum selectivity with respect to the desired guanidine formation, whilst still occurring at a practical rate.