Optimizing Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Efficiency: Best Practices and Strategies

The pharmaceutical industry has shown record growth in the past two decades, jumping from 498 billion USD in 2003 to 1607 billion USD in 2023. A large contribution to this growth has been made by the number of pharmaceutical companies currently active. The total number of pharmaceutical companies with active pipelines has increased six times, from 1503 in 2003 to 6124 in 2023. The increasing number of pharmaceutical companies means more competition.

This has increased pressure on the research and development teams in all pharmaceutical companies, pressuring them to develop new and better drugs at a higher rate. However, the pressure has also increased on the manufacturing department, which has to develop manufacturing strategies to rapidly manufacture these drugs and get them out in the market. Pharmaceutical companies are required to optimize their manufacturing processes as they considerably impact their production costs and timelines.

How does pharmaceutical manufacturing efficiency change production costs and timelines?

Decreases waste

Efficient manufacturing processes result in less waste production and higher use of intermediates, both of which result in higher yields. As a result, pharmaceutical companies need fewer raw materials, which decreases their stock and inventory costs and decreases the cost per batch. It considerably impacts profits and production costs in the long run.

Less energy, labor, and utility costs

Optimizing manufacturing processes ensures the same process can be completed using less energy and utilities, which decreases the overall utility costs of the company. Furthermore, streamlined and efficient manufacturing processes use highly reliable and efficient equipment and require little human intervention, decreasing labour costs, which decreases production costs.

Faster scale-up

Efficient manufacturing processes need to be easily scaled up from the laboratory level to the industry level. It allows the company to quickly start large-scale production and introduce the product in the market, which translates to faster timelines and more profits.

Optimizing pharmaceutical manufacturing processes can help any pharmaceutical company boost their overall efficiency, decrease production costs, and speed up their timelines. However, optimization is not simple. Here are some simple efficiency-boosting strategies pharmaceutical companies can use for manufacturing improvements.

Efficiency-boosting strategies: Techniques for optimizing manufacturing processes

Decrease equipment downtime 

Equipment downtime, which is the time the equipment is turned off or unused, negatively impacts efficiency. Let’s understand this using the example of a furnace, a very common equipment in manufacturing processes. If the furnace is used for heating only during the start of the process, most will turn it off once the step is complete. Doing so will decrease utility costs, undoubtedly. However, during the next batch, the furnace will take longer to heat up and you will have to wait for it to reach the desired temperature. As a result, the utility cost may decrease but the production time increases. It is necessary to decrease equipment downtime.

Use continuous processes

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Manufacturing processes can be divided into two types: batch and continuous processes. Most start-up pharmaceutical companies develop batch processes and create their formulations in “batches”. However, the problem with this process type is that you need to wait for one step to complete before the next can be initiated, which increases the cost and production time. Continuous pharma manufacturing processes are more efficient and produce drugs in a continuous stream rather than batches.

Develop an efficient process

Optimizing manufacturing processes should start at the lab. Even if a company chooses a textbook manufacturing process that is typical, common, and global, it should still invest time and effort to determine how it can increase its efficiency in its laboratories. Process optimization is not a one-time task but an ongoing one that companies have to invest in if they want to improve their pharmaceutical manufacturing efficiency.

Choose automation and technology

Implementing new technologies and automating processes can further increase pharmaceutical manufacturing efficiency. For example, process analysis technology (PAT) allows real-time monitoring of processes, high-throughput screening (HTS) platforms allow the characterization of thousands of samples at the same time, and automated liquid handling systems automate liquid measuring, sampling, pouring, etc. processes. These simple technologies can considerably decrease manufacturing time and increase precision, which will increase product quality.

While these efficiency-boosting strategies seem simple enough, we should also acknowledge the difficulties faced during efficiency optimization.

Challenges and future directions: Challenges faced in efficiency optimization

Regulatory hurdles

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Manufacturing improvements are subject to regulatory hurdles. Realistically, pharmaceutical companies have to jump through thousands of hoops to get their formulations approved. Regulatory hurdles, stringent safety guidelines, and strict ethical policies delay drug development and manufacturing.

Rapidly increasing costs

Owing to the numerous companies currently active in the pharmaceutical space, the demand for raw materials has shot up. In many countries, the prices of raw materials have increased by 100% after the pandemic. As a result, pharmaceutical efficiency also depends on the company’s available budget. Companies may not be able to make manufacturing improvements simply because they do not have the funds to purchase higher-quality raw materials.

Intellectual property competition

With increasing competition, there are bound to be overlaps in manufacturing pipelines. Today, more than one company is trying to perfect the same formulation to treat the same disease. As a result, there is increasing competition in securing intellectual rights.

These are only some examples of the many challenges that hinder the efficiency of manufacturing processes. However, as this article highlighted, efficient manufacturing processes can considerably boost profits, decrease production costs, and decrease project timelines. As a result, companies need to look at efficiency-boosting strategies. 

Automation and technology can reduce human errors; alternatively, companies can develop efficient processes or use their equipment to the fullest by decreasing downtime. However, despite implementing good efficiency-boosting strategies, companies will likely face challenges, such as regulatory hurdles. The key lesson is to determine ways to overcome them and always focus on improving efficiency.

FAQs

1. Is optimizing manufacturing processes an expensive task?

Optimization of manufacturing processes depends heavily on how the original processes are inefficient. Optimization does not always require financial investment; however, companies should be prepared to invest some time and money to improve efficiency.

2. How does improving efficiency help increase profit?

Improving manufacturing efficiency allows pharmaceutical companies to produce more drugs. Consequently, companies can sell more units per month, increasing their revenue and profit.

3. Which is the best method to improve pharmaceutical manufacturing efficiency?

The best way to improve efficiency is to automate processes. Automation and technology ensure processes are more efficient, fast, accurate, and error-free.