Session Date: Thursday, July 27, 2023 Session Time: 11:00AM – 1:00PM PDT Abstract: The development of sustained release formulations involves the production of many different batches, to study the effect of various parameters on the release characteristics. A well-organized platform for characterization of these characteristics by in-vitro release testing (IVRT), is crucial for efficient formulation development. The organization of IVR testing of multiple projects, each with their own specific API’s and formulation requirements, can be very laborious. It requires a highly organized system for administration of experimental settings, scheduling of sampling points, registration of sample location, and for the generation of sampling and analysis worklists. Most commercially available automated systems did not meet our criteria for handling large numbers of samples and lack the required flexibility of experimental settings. To address this, we developed a semi-automated IVRT set-up by implementing a pipetting robot, while in parallel developing a dedicated software application called IVR-Manager. Our automation approach resulted in a reliable and efficient way for performing IVR testing while maintaining the highest flexibility regarding sampling scheduling, sample tracking and robotic performance.
Key Learning Objectives:
Automation of highly variable IVRT experiments, leads to improved efficiency and reduced manual labour.
Automated liquid handlers are very useful for IVR sampling, providing a well-organized sample management system.
Software for highly specific tasks can be most efficiently developed in-house