General Articles

Shire Laboratories, Inc., Shire Pharmaceuticals Group’s drug delivery company, is a leading advanced drug delivery company serving the pharmaceutical industry with innovative technologies in the areas of predictive discovery lead selection and oral bioavailability screening, oral bioavailability enhancement (including solubility enhancement, permeation enhancement, and efflux and protease protection), and proven and patented oral controlled-release technologies. Drug Delivery Technology recently interviewed Shire Laboratories’ President and CEO Mr. Jack Khattar to discuss how the Maryland-based company is strengthening its expertise and fuelling its growth through strategic partnerships.

For full article Click Here

The discoverer of oxygen got the theory wrong but contributed much to science and modern life. Rarely does an individual achieve prominence in fields as diverse as science, religion, and politics. Yet this year marks the 200th anniversary of the death of a man who did just that. Joseph Priestley is known primarily as the “discoverer” of oxygen. He isolated that element in 1774 after a series of famous experiments involving mercuric oxide and bell jars. But while he was o­ne of the most influential scientists of the 18th century, Priestley also gained notoriety in his native England for his unorthodox religious and political views. The social and political controversy that dogged Priestley through much of his life makes his story o­ne of the most interesting in the history of chemistry.

For full article Click Here

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of processing parameters o­n the morphology, porosity, and crystallinity of polymeric polyethylene glycol (PEG) microparticles by spray freezing into liquid (SFL), a new particle engineering technology. Processing parameters investigated were the viscosity and flow rate of the polymer solution, nozzle diameter, spray time, pressure, temperature, and flow rate of the cryogenic liquid. By varying the processing parameters and feed composition, atomization and heat transfer mechanisms were modified resulting in particles of different size distribution, shape, morphology, density, porosity, and crystallinity. Median particle diameter (M50) varied from 25 µm to 600 µm. Particle shape was spherical or elongated with highly irregular surfaces. Granule density was between 0.5 and 1.5 g/mL. In addition to producing particles of pure polymer, drug particles were encapsulated in polymeric microparticles.