Artificial intelligence in pharmaceutical product formulation: neural computing

The properties of a formulation are determined not only by the ratios in which the ingredients are combined but also by the processing conditions. Although the relationships between the ingredient levels, processing conditions, and product performance may be known anecdotally, they can rarely be quantified. In the past, formulators tended to use statistical techniques to model their formulations, relying on response surfaces to provide a mechanism for optimazation. However, the optimization by such a method can be misleading, especially if the formulation is complex. More recently, advances in mathematics and computer science have led to the development of alternative modeling and data mining techniques which work with a wider range of data sources: neural networks (an attempt to mimic the processing of the human brain); genetic algorithms (an attempt to mimic the evolutionary process by which biological systems self-organize and adapt), and fuzzy logic (an attempt to mimic the ability of the human brain to draw conclusions and generate responses based on incomplete or imprecise information). In this review the current technology will be examined, as well as its application in pharmaceutical formulation and processing. The challenges, benefits and future possibilities of neural computing will be discussed