Researchers at TauRx Therapeutics are using the automation capabilities of the Syrris Atlas HD reactor systems to simplify and accelerate process development for their product pipeline. Based at the company’s primary research facilities at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, the Syrris equipment is an integral part of the quality by design (QBD) process optimisation workflow.
Process chemist Scott Clunas explains: “We have been using Altas syringe pumps and software for a number of years. This combination of pumps and automation software is very flexible, allowing us to add multiple reagents to a reactor vessel at set intervals, without needing to have somebody at the bench to manually add liquids or swap lines. We have been happy with the robustness and performance of the pumps, so when we were looking to invest in additional batch reactor systems, Syrris was the logical choice.
“We now have four Atlas HD jacketed reactor systems, set up as two parallel pairs each controlled by a single PC, allowing us to more quickly and easily perform QBD studies for the production of our active pharmaceutical ingredients. Each of these experiments can run for 24 to 48 hours, so it’s essential that we can automate the entire reaction. The Atlas reactor systems ensure that each experiment is performed in exactly the same way every time eliminating the variability associated with manual processes giving us a very high degree of process control for consistent results and, ultimately, more robust processes,” he concludes.
