‘Gravimetric Feeders’ benefits Continuous Manufacturing in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Pharmaceutical Continuous Manufacturing Gravimetric Feeder Markets - Inkwood Research

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Gravimetric feeders are characteristically the technology of choice for continuous pharmaceutical processing. Since the loss-in-weight controller provides the real-time accuracy required for continuous manufacturing control, gravimetric feeders are used for continuous, direct compression as well as hot-melt extrusion.

Inkwood Research’s expert analysis suggests that the global pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing gravimetric feeder market will grow with a CAGR of 9.60% between 2022 and 2030. This growth is facilitated by the augmenting pharmaceutical industry and the increasing awareness about gravimetric feeders. However, the market is likely to face challenges such as the high dependency on batch manufacturing and stringent regulations.

Influence of Gravimetric Feeders on the Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry’s transition towards digitization is strengthened by big data and artificial intelligence, enabling businesses to enhance drug development and generate novel income streams. Drugmakers are increasingly pursuing emerging markets for new sources of growth as pharma sales in developed countries stagnate.

Since gravimetric feeders ensure higher precision, the rise in continuous manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry is set to propel the global market’s growth. Aligning with this, here are some of the key factors influencing the development of the pharmaceutical industry

Increasing Geriatric Population: As per the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, the number of individuals aged 65 and above is anticipated to grow by 50% over the upcoming thirty years. In this regard, the rapidly aging population in the Asia-Pacific offers numerous prospects for leading pharmaceutical companies such as Schenck Process Holding GmbH and Hardy Process Solutions due to the rising demand for general medicine, biopharmaceuticals, and pharmaceuticals.

Growing Prevalence of Chronic Conditions: The increasing adoption of sedentary lifestyles in developing nations, in addition to the growing middle-class population, has accelerated the rate of diabetes, obesity, and various other health issues. Hence, the surging incidence of chronic diseases plays an essential role in fueling the growth of the pharmaceutical industry globally.

Product Launches: Pharmaceutical companies are expected to replace conventional processes with continuous manufacturing, thus enabling accelerated operations for future emergencies. For instance, Coperion GmbH, headquartered in Germany, extended its original ProRate feeder portfolio in 2022 with the launch of a new and cost-effective feeder line termed ProRate PLUS. Furthermore, in order to remain competitive, pharmaceutical firms concentrate on global competencies while tailoring strategies for local markets.

Market by Type & its Relevant Applications

Gravimetric feeders play an essential role in the application of continuous manufacturing. Pharmaceutical companies place a significant value on product accuracy, precision, and perfection. Since gravimetric feeders deliver the assistance required and expected by pharmaceutical manufacturers, their awareness and relevance are progressively increasing in the market space.

In this regard, the two main types analyzed by our experts in the pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing gravimetric feeders market are single screw gravimetric feeders and twin screw gravimetric feeders. And the latter is expected to acquire the highest share during the forecast period.

Opportunistic Performance

The gravimetric feeder outperforms its substitute, the volumetric feeder, offering significant benefits over the batch manufacturing process. Moreover, they also employ sophisticated methods and approaches, anticipated to benefit over time. Consequently, their application and usage are set to follow suit, along with diversified advantages, including:

  • 100% control over product quality
  • Requirement for lesser human interference
  • Easy operability
  • Self-adjusting and self-calibrating
  • Insensitive to material build-up
  • Accurate dosing cylinder
  • Higher savings on expensive additives

Since gravimetric feeders automatically detect material supply interruption, the fluctuations in density do not affect the outcome. For instance, twin screw gravimetric feeders provide higher feeding accuracy than single screw gravimetric feeders. Moreover, they also deliver advantages such as smaller size and minimal noise.

As a result, the use of gravimetric feeders in the pharmaceutical industry due to benefits in continuous manufacturing process is set to bolster global pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing gravimetric feeder market.

 

FAQs:

How does the use of gravimetric feeders minimize human errors?

The use of gravimetric feeders is emphasized in the continuous production process, owing to its potential to mitigate risk factors associated with humans. With the employment of gravimetric feeders, risks like the incorrect quantity of materials, the need for repeated checks in an ongoing process, continuous manual labor and attention requirements, as well as technical or mechanical faults, can be effectively minimized, and avoided, or even eliminated to a certain extent.

State an example of governments highlighting the importance of continuous manufacturing.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ’s Emerging Technology Program (ETP)’s identification of continuous manufacturing of drug products and continuous manufacturing of drug substances as developing technologies for biological molecules and small molecules is a key example of governments emphasizing the importance of continuous manufacturing.