Developing better products faster

Using Intelligent Software at AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca have long been pioneers in the use of artificial intelligence in product formulation, and in 2003, they invested in a multi-user licence for both INForm and FormRules.  The licences were put onto a central server, and the software made available via the desktops of selected users worldwide. 

In 2004, Intelligensys ran two training courses for AstraZeneca– one in the UK, and one in the USA – to ensure that their staff could use the software effectively.  Following this, some skilled local experts have evolved, and they have been invaluable in continuing to develop the corporate user base and in acting as sounding boards for infrequent users.  And because AstraZeneca took a maintenance and support contract with us, they have been able to draw on the expertise of Intelligensys scientists, who are available by telephone and email, and who visit AstraZeneca regularly to provide some advanced ‘consultancy’ and to get feedback on how the software can be improved.

Their investment is now coming to fruition.  At the AAPS meeting in San Diego in November 2007, scientists from the Pharmaceutical and Analytical R&D Department at Wilmington, DE, presented a poster discussing the use of neurofuzzy logic (using our FormRules program) in analyzing data for a pan coating process.  The model showed that gun-to-bed distance and atomization pressure were the major process variables that affected film coat uniformity, and that there was an interaction between these variables. See a copy of their poster at www.formulatingknowledge.com.

In more recent work, scientists from Macclesfield, UK have looked at finding the cause and effect relationships in formulation process optimization data for an immediate release tablet, finding which process conditions and intermediate properties are related to dissolution rate.  Interactions between some of the parameters – which were difficult to find by a statistical study – were discovered automatically by the FormRules program.

Another exciting application in Macclesfield concerns polymorph screening.  A paper currently in preparation describes how solvent properties, evaporation rate and temperature can be related to the various polymorphic forms that are produced during crystallization.  The models allow predictions of the polymorphic form that will be obtained, given specific process conditions.  It is also possible to use INForm to optimize the outcome of an experiment – that is, to maximize the chances of obtaining the desired polymorph in a crystallization experiment. 

The benefits to AstraZeneca of using INForm and FormRules are various.  First, information is put directly into the hands of the people who can make use of it – the product formulators themselves. And they can get this information quickly once they have collected their data.   Secondly, sharing the data with colleagues and customers becomes straightforward, and it is preserved in electronic form for later access. 

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