Seminar Presentation by Dr. Torsten Stelzer, UPR-MSC. Hosted by Dr. Dalice M. Piñero Cruz
Seminar Title: Innovative Solutions in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
By: Dr. Torsten Stelzer
Affiliations:
1) Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan,
Puerto Rico, 00936, USA
2) Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA
3) Crystallization Design Institute, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA
Contact Information: torsten.stelzer@upr.edu
Abstract:
Continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing has attracted the attention of both academia and industry with its perspective of lower costs as well as greater reliability, safety, and sustainability. It also allows novel pathways that are not otherwise accessible via batch manufacturing. On this account, the research efforts in continuous manufacturing are growing and can be generally divided into synthesis, purification, and solid handling/ formulation with successful industrial implementation. Additionally, few efforts are considering end-to-end continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing by integrating synthesis, purification, and final dosage formulation to take full advantage of this emergent manufacturing concept for pharmaceuticals. The talk will provide a look into the achievements in current continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing while emphasizing the challenges of such an integrated approach.
Short-Bio:
Dr. Torsten Stelzer is Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus and Principal Investigator in the Crystallization Design Institute at the Molecular Sciences Research Center. Before joining the University of Puerto Rico, he was post-doctoral associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) working with Prof. Allan Myerson on the development of continuous, end-to-end pharmaceutical manufacturing platforms (Science, 2016, 352, 61). Prior to his position at MIT, Dr. Stelzer served as Assistant Professor (Habilitand) in the Center of Engineering Sciences at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, where he also obtained his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering.
Dr. Stelzer’s research focuses on continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing at the interface of upstream (synthesis) and downstream (crystallization, separation, and formulation) with an emphasis on crystallization. To date, he has authored 28 publications, five (5) book contributions, including a contribution in the Handbook of Industrial Crystallization. He is an inventor on four (4) patents, and has contributed in over 50 international conferences.
Dr. Stelzer serves as consultant for the industry and is reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals including Chemical Engineering Journal, Chemical Engineering Research & Design, Crystal Growth & Design, and Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. He is among other affiliations a member of the Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems (C-SOPS), as well as the Puerto Rico Biotechnology Alliance and Pharmaceutical Industry Cluster. Thanks to his research efforts Dr. Stelzer is also an invited member of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) in the Section Group Product Design & Engineering.
