Long acting medicines for complex therapeutics needed now
LongActNow will design a novel platform technology for the development of long acting (LA) suspensions of complex active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), involving innovative manipulation of API crystal formation and growth and solvent removal. LA formulations have become a game-changer in terms of bringing existing and new API in more cost-efficient and comfortable ways to patients, often directly impacting commercial viability of new products. However, existing technology platforms are only applicable to a limited part of the pharma portfolio and do not allow to fully unlock all benefits linked to LA. LongActNow is a unique European Industrial Doctorate (EID) initiative that aims to meet the current and future demand for highly skilled scientists and engineers in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing of LA formulations. The initiative is leveraged by fusing the capabilities of four significant international academic and industrial centres (University of Limerick (UL), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Technische Universität Dortmund (TUD) and Janssen Pharmaceutica (Janssen)) with specific expertise in crystallisation, solution behaviour, modelling, solvent switching, pharmacokinetics and formulation.  LongActNow will advance European research in the field of crystallisation technologies, more specifically the design, development and optimization of prediction and production technologies to produce medicines with well controlled physical and pharmacological properties. The project will produce five Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) trained in crystallisation and formulation to a PhD level with a unique capability to optimise the stability and duration of activity of injectable suspensions for complex APIs and will nourish the creativity, entrepreneurship, management and business skills of ESRs in the domain of drug development and manufacturing, to stimulate an innovation-oriented mindset in future pharmaceutical researchers.