It’s one thing to talk about PAT and QbD, quite another to implement them. Indeed, much of the discussion surrounding PAT and QbD lately has focused on the inability of the movement to get beyond the early adopters and reach medium-sized and small manufacturers. A common refrain: “We’re not Pfizer.” Translated, “If we had that kind of cash on hand we’d have a PAT team large enough to fill a football stadium.”

To Pfizer’s credit, it has tried to further the industry’s collective knowledge, particularly in regards to PAT. The Global R&D team in Sandwich, U.K., has been generous of late. Last winter, Ian Clegg and Co. posted a video on YouTube illustrating, step by step, the use of Mid-IR spectroscopy to track a telescoped chemical reaction (“telescoped” meaning three separate reactions were run in the same vessel without interruption). The Pfizer team provides captioned commentary on why and how the reaction spectrum changes throughout the process.

In June, the team posted a sort of a sequel clip, showing the use of NMR spectroscopy in monitoring reactions.

Fascinating stuff, and kudos to PGRD for providing a look inside some of their current work. Here’s hoping other PAT scientists and QbD teams follow suit.

Have a PAT or QbD video you’d like to share? By all means, send it along.

–Paul Thomas

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