Interview

Federica Del Matti and Valerio Guarnieri, R&D and Test Center manager and deputy, talk about the FPS Micronization Excellence Center

March 10, 2022

How is the test center organized?

The Micronization Excellence Center is the name of FPS R&D center. Physically it is divided into 3 areas, clean rooms with washrooms, a laboratory for the analytical work and storage room for equipment. There are 3 ISO8 cleanrooms and one of them hosts an isolator to handle highly potent powders. It can also operate in an inert environment.

In the cleanrooms, micronization is performed with samples that are immediately analyzed in the lab with a Malvern Mastersizer 2000 laser analyzer

The lab is also equipped with an optical microscope for image analysis and the DSC25.

What mills and services are available?

We offer 3 different technologies to our customers:

  • Spiral jet mills
  • Loop mills (also called Q mills)
  • Mechanical mills (such as pin mills, hammer mills and cone mills)

For each technology we have mills for R&D, pilot and production

Mills can be rented with or without the technical support of an FPS specialist.

The strength of FPS is its flexibility and ability to adapt to very different customer needs. For example, in our test center, the micronization process can be done with compressed air or nitrogen, and also at room temperature or in cryogenic conditions.

Therefore, we can:

  1. Optimize the process parameters
  2. Study the behavior of the various micronized products
  3. Perform the micronization service as a third party (but not under GMP conditions)

What industries does the test center serve?

Given the variety of mills available at FPS and the high level of technology, we typically micronize products for the pharmaceutical industry including highly potent APIs. To micronize those toxic compounds, we operate the jet mill inside a barrier isolator. We also work for the chemical and cosmetic industries.

What are the plans for 2022?

This year our goal is to serve more customers and to provide more comprehensive services.

We are also currently taking an interest in nanotechnology, which we believe is destined to become the future of personalized medicine for the treatment of difficult-to-treat diseases, such as cancer.