New-generation drugs, and some food derivatives with high added value, are unstable in the liquid phase. To ensure long-term preservation, freezing is often used although is not suitable for the large-scale distribution of massive quantities of products due to the difficulties of maintaining the cold chain. Therefore, these products are often stored in dried form. Unfortunately, thermal drying is not compatible with the thermolabile properties of biopharmaceuticals and some food products. For this reason, unconventional drying techniques such as freeze-drying are used. Being a complex and expensive process, the pharmaceutical and food industry is investing heavily in the development of new methods, which combine mathematical modelling with a small number of experiments, for process development and optimization, as well as process analytical technologies for non-invasive monitoring of the product during drying. These activities also include studying the impact of process conditions on the finished product's quality, including the nutritional properties of dried foods.
- Process monitoring and control: design, optimization, monitoring and control of the freeze-drying process
- Freeze-drying of small and large molecules
- Freeze-drying of non-conventional products such as liposomes, cellular derivates, inclusion complex with polymeric and lipidic nanoparticles
- Freeze-drying of food