Improvement of drug processability in a connected continuous crystallizer system using formulation additive

Continuous crystallization in the presence of polymer additives is a promising method to omit some drug formulation steps by improving the technological and also pharmacological properties of crystalline active ingredients. Accordingly, this study focuses on developing an additive-assisted continuous crystallization process using polyvinylpyrrolidone in a connected ultrasonicated plug flow crystallizer and an overflow mixed suspension mixed product removal (MSMPR) crystallizer system. We aimed to improve the flowability characteristics of small, columnar primary plug flow crystallizer-produced acetylsalicylic acid crystals as a model drug by promoting their agglomeration in MSMPR crystallizer with polyvinylpyrrolidone. The impact of the cooling antisolvent crystallization process parameters (temperature, polymer amount, total flow rate) on product quality and quantity was investigated. Finally, a spatially segmented antisolvent dosing method was also evaluated. The developed technology enabled the manufacture of purified, constant quality products in a short startup period, even with an 85% yield. We found that a higher polymer amount (7.5–14%) could facilitate agglomeration resulting in “good” flowability without altering the favorable dissolution characteristics of the primary particles