Ferro Pfanstiehl Commissions New Facility

Ferro Pfanstiehl Labs, Inc., part of the Organic Specialties Group of Ferro Corp., has commissioned a new cGMP supercritical fluid-based particle engineering pilot facility. The facility brings additional expertise in particle sizing, purification and formulation to fee-for-service pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers. It will provide ICH Q7A-compliant small-scale manufacturing of drug particles and compounds for use in Phase I and II trials and feasibility studies of engineered particles for any desired drug delivery application.

Ferro Corp.’s supercritical fluid (SCF) technologies utilize low-cost carbon dioxide to produce nano- and micro-particles with a narrow size distribution and consistent morphology. The particles manufactured using these technologies can be used in controlled release, taste masking, respiratory, transdermal and injectable drug delivery applications. Manufacturing benefits include reduced operating costs, near elimination of waste streams, easy recycling of organic solvents, and reduced cycle time.

“Ferro Pfanstiehl’s cGMP SCF particle engineering facility is unique in offering a full tool box of technical approaches that will enable our customers to solve varied problems in drug development and delivery,” said Peter Thomas, Ferro vice president of organic specialties. “It will allow them to develop and manufacture drug particles suitable for the fastest-growing drug delivery methods, such as inhalable, controlled release and injectable targeted therapeutics.”