(262c) Quantification and Control of Amorphous Contents By Raman. Applications and Case Studies in Pharmaceutical Processing

Amorphous regions in crystalline material can have significant impact on bioavailability, processability and stability. Conversely, crystalline material can act as nuclei for recrystallization and resulting in instability of amorphous systems. Raman spectroscopy is sensitive to polymorphic differences and amorphous content in pharmaceutical materials. This make Raman spectroscopy a powerful process analytical technology (PAT), when combined with multivariate modelling, to control the amorphous content in a pharmaceutical process. We will present pharmaceutical case studies showing process-induced amorphization of crystalline drugs across the DS and DP processing steps. In addition, we will compare the kinetics of crystallization of amorphous material when stored at various relative humidity and temperature conditions. The results clearly demonstrate that Raman spectroscopic techniques combined with multivariate methods is a powerful and effective tool for quantitation of amorphous content in crystalline material with applications ranging from API isolation, milling and to multiple unit operations in DP manufacturing. The information generated was critical to determine the root-causes and outline appropriate mitigation measures.