Particle size analyzers help in pharmaceuticals

Malvern Mastersizer particle size analyzers have been used at the Holzkirchen (Germany) headquarters of pharmaceutical company Hexal AG for many years.

Malvern Mastersizer particle size analyzers have been used at the Holzkirchen (Germany) headquarters of pharmaceutical company Hexal AG for many years.

Now their use has been extended with installations at other facilities within the Hexal group.

The systems are being employed in a variety of different applications, but a key factor in selecting the Mastersizer 2000 was Hexal's need for comparable results between different facilities, as well as the requirement to be able to exchange methods easily.

This of growing significance as Hexal prepares for integration into the Sandoz division of Novartis, one of the leaders within the worldwide market for pharmaceutical generics.

In the past year, Mastersizer 2000 systems have been installed at three Hexal sites: at Salutas , one of the most modern pharmaceutical production sites in Europe, manufacturing more than 5 million tablets and capsules every year; at Hexal Syntech, near Dresden, for use in controlling the synthesis of active substances; and at Jenahexal Pharma, the site of Hexal's sterile production.

At Jenahexal, more than 450 different sterile dosage forms, including injectables, infusions and implants, are produced under GMP cleanroom conditions.

The Mastersizer 2000 is a laser diffraction-based particle size analyzer which measures particle size over an extremely broad range from 0.02 to 2000 microns.

Its software-driven Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are designed to simplify method development, allow global method transfer and ensure that minimal operator intervention is required during measurements.

A SOP-assistant supports the user during the set up of an optimum measurement method, and SOPs can be transferred from instrument to instrument by email - an important feature for global operations.

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