Pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers are embracing disposable one-use systems for aseptic filling and capping to cut costs and improve efficiencies, all while meeting strict FDA requirements.

By Sarah Fister Gale

Experts in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are the first to admit that they are not trendsetters when it comes to implementing new technologies. While electronics and semiconductor manufacturers are constantly shrinking geometries and implementing smaller, more cost-effective tools to improve their yields, pharmaceutical experts embrace caution when it comes to innovation.

That caution is prudent in a world where mistakes can cost lives; however, it can also lead to missed opportunities. It takes decades for these industries to adopt new technologies, even when the benefits are proven, creating an environment that is last to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies.

“The industry is somewhat fearful of change, and regulations breed conservatism,” notes Jim Akers, president of Akers Kennedy and Associates, a technical consultancy for the biological and pharmaceutical industry based in Kansas City, MO. “While many people believe that the pharmaceutical industry has the most advanced aseptic processing in the world, they never look outside their world at what other industries are doing. In reality the industry has not kept pace.”

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