TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION


Continuous manufacturing builds on hype but adoption


remains gradual Brexit, COVID-19 and a drive for sustainability have all bumped the move towards continuous manufacturing, even though large- scale investment drags, reports Adam Zamecnik.


T


he enthusiasm to build strong, sustainable supply chains has only increased in the past few years


following Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, adopting continuous flow manufacturing (CFM) practices is often cited as a solution for the pharmaceutical industry. But, despite the push given by the emergent nature of the pandemic, its ultimate adoption represents a longer, more careful trend in the sector, which is potentially limited by apprehensive investment.


Continuous manufacturing is best described as a series of processes that optimise drug production to a continued flow of drugs. This is in contrast to the widely used batch manufacturing, which consists of complex processes rendered across the world where


26 | Clinical Trial Supply Handbook


materials are made in large batches, rather than in a consistent flow.


Denoted as one of the top 10 emerging technologies, a November 2021 World Economic Forum (WEF) report stated that CFM could effectively “revolutionise” the process of drug manufacturing by allowing greater personalisation of each medicine made on demand that would not need to be shipped across multiple locations. Yet adopting CFM will likely be a long process, particularly while producing complicated assets like biologics.


Push towards reshoring production due to COVID-19


The pandemic pushed the industry’s attention to continuous manufacturing to reshore production and bolster domestic supply chains,


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