For contract manufacturer Lonza, raw material QC processes--particularly the sampling required in material identification testing--became a target of lean thinking. The contract manufacturer conducted a study of spectroscopic technologies--Raman, near-infrared, and Fourier Transform infrared portable devices--to speed its lab-based analysis while maintaining ID accuracy.
Of the spectroscopic techniques studied, Raman and NIR outperformed FTIR for accuracy and sensitivity, according to PharmaManufacturing.com. And although the outperformers both penetrate multiple container types, Raman excelled by proving itself with poly bags, HDPE bottles, and clear and amber glass containers. NIR worked well with poly bags, but not bottles.
Lonza now has the Raman units in place at five of its biopharma sites. And thanks to product commonality across them, the company has so far harmonized specs on 10 raw materials.
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