Unravelling the complexities of freeze-drying pharmaceuticals with advanced microscopy techniques

Linkam’s FDCS196 was used by researchers at the UK’s National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) and the University of Strathclyde to predict freeze-drying conditions for liposome-cryoprotectant mixtures (drug delivery systems), using light microscopy with a cryostage.

Webinar: From Ancient Relics to Life on Mars: Temperature-Controlled Experiments for Materials Characterisation

In advance of the Mars landing on 18 February 2021, members of the Analytical Chemistry group at Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (University of the Basque Country) in Leioa, Spain presented their research on how temperature controlled experiments (including Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence and XRD analysis) can be used to characterise geological materials ranging from historical artefacts from the Roman empire to regolith samples from Mars.

The importance of being small: miniaturisation of freeze drying equipment

Developmental activities for freeze-dried products are dictated by the limited availability and high cost of newly developed active compounds, and by Quality-by-Design requirements. Laboratory-scale freeze dryers used for formulation and process development show an excessive variety of designs and instrumentation concepts, making scale-up activities a challenge. The development of miniaturised equipment may provide enormous benefits in terms of development times and costs.