Dr Deirdre D’Arcy, Trinity College Dublin, Dr Brendan Griffin, University College Cork, Dr Peter McLoughlin, Waterford IT, Prof. Caitriona O’Driscoll, University College Cork, Dr Joseph O’Mahony, SETU Waterford, Dr Niall O’Reilly, SETU Waterford, Dr Tim Persoons, Trinity College Dublin, Prof. Lidia Tajber, Trinity College Dublin, Dr Katie Ryan, University College Cork, Prof. Elizabeth Topp, National Institute for Bioprocessing Research & Training (NIBRT), Dr Anne Moore, University College Cork.
Trinity College Dublin
Medicines
Prof. Abina Crean
University College Cork
Overall Objective
Key Scientific Expertise
- Preformulation and formulation of solid dosage forms
- Amorphous materials
- Microneedles
- Solid state characterization
- Pharmaceutical processing
- Dissolution studies
- Dissolution modelling
- In vivo animal (pig) model
- In vitro-in vivo correlations.
Industrial Significance
In the context of advancing formulation approaches we have identified three significant current challenges that need to be addressed, namely:
Poorly soluble drugs: It is estimated that more than 60% of new drug molecules display poor aqueous solubility. There is an on-going need for enabling formulations for such therapeutic agents which have suboptimal bioavailability.
Personalised and age-appropriate medicines: Translation of personalised medicines to large patient groups requires the development of novel formulation approaches to deliver tailored dosage for individual patient needs. By harnessing new and emerging technologies we will seek to provide age-appropriate formulations for paediatric and geriatric populations, where demand for such approaches is growing.
Rational formulation approaches with predictive performance: The implementation of predictive modelling approaches to reduce drug product development times, control the impact of material variability on manufacture, reduce drug product variability and support real time drug release is a key challenge, and can only be addressed through an improved understanding of how material and processing characteristics impact product performance.
