April 8, 2019
By Ed Brunson
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy is offering a hands-on course that will include an overview of how to use 3D printing to create pharmaceutical tablets, also known as pills, that are commonly made using a labor-intensive tablet compression process.
The Hands-On Course in Tablet Technology, offered through the School of Pharmacy’s Pii Center for Pharmaceutical Technology, has an over 20-year history of instructing in traditional and advanced technologies used to make pharmaceutical solid oral dosage forms, such as wet granulation and hot melt extrusion. With advances in 3D printing technology, the course’s administrators see an opportunity to expand the course’s curriculum.
The course is designed for representatives from the pharmaceutical, dietary supplement and food industries, as well as raw material and equipment suppliers and regulatory agency employees. Attendees will learn how to make, evaluate and control the quality of pharmaceutical oral solid dosage forms.
“The beauty of this course is that we get to teach formulation development, manufacturing and quality-control functions to attendees who may have limited knowledge about them,” said Michael A. Repka, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery at the School of Pharmacy and director of the Pii Center.
The May 19-24 course will teach participants how to choose the ingredients and processing conditions required to make these formulations. Daily lectures on tablet design, evaluation and US FDA guidelines will ensure that participants receive a broad overview of the science and technology associated with developing and manufacturing tablets. State-of-the-art laboratory, analytical and manufacturing equipment demonstrations taught by experts will give participants hands-on experiences with various aspects of manufacturing. Lunch and learn sessions will also be provided to introduce new topics.
“The course complements the School of Pharmacy’s position as a leader in pharmaceutical education and technology transfer for commercial development,” said Walt Chambliss, interim associate vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs. “One goal for the course is to enhance collaborations between our researchers and pharmaceutical scientists in industry who can serve as developmental partners for technologies discovered in the school.”