PAT Initiatives And TOC Measurements For Higher Product Quality And Profitability

In recent months, the use of PAT (Process Analytical Technology) terminology has consumed the vocabulary of Pharmaceutical professionals. At its core, the PAT initiative is designed to address manufacturing- related quality issues in the Pharmaceutical industry by encouraging process innovation. Admittedly, this is no easy task in a typically risk-adverse industry, but, with the innovations presented by PAT, pharmaceutical manufacturers are rapidly embracing it as a means of increasing efficiency and profitability. And the online Total Organic Carbon (TOC) monitoring process is no exception. Increasingly, Pharmaceutical manufacturers are taking a hard look at the viability of laboratory TOC testing relative to labor costs, sample contamination, etc. and comparing it to continuous, on-line monitoring. They are quickly coming to the conclusion that the benefits of on-line monitoring far outweigh the lab methods in speed of response, coupled with the ability to trend the data and control the variability in the production process. Further, today's lower cost per station for on-line TOC monitoring also enables companies to monitor many more points in the process rather than taking one measurement at the end of the production line.