Parenteral Drug Manufacturing — Innovation Begins With A Problem

By Dr. Thomas S. Ingallinera, R.Ph., Ph.D., Vice President of Technical Support

If you google search “how to innovate” you will receive about 55 million results. One can easily access articles and purchase books that offer rules, steps, essentials, keys, methods, guidelines, regulations, policies, techniques, and best practices related to innovation. Do you think we have an innovation obsession?

In my 40-plus years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, I have learned that innovation is fundamentally about solving problems and driven by three essentials applied in harmony: experience, reasoning, and creativity. At Pharmaceutics International, Inc. (Pii) we have a motto, “challenges frame opportunities” and every innovation in which I have been involved, started with a challenging problem.

Developing manufacturing processes for complex parenteral drug formulations often presents some of the most challenging problems pharmaceutical scientists and engineers face and can lead to the most interesting innovative solutions. Effectively employing the three problem-solving essentials—experience, reasoning, creativity—can be the catalyst for success.