Feature Story:

Pills for all ills

Pharmaceuticals have revolutionized medical practice. Julie Mitchell looks at how they have eradicated most of the world’s killer diseases, enabled surgeons to perform complex, life-saving, procedures and helped millions of people with chronic conditions to have a better quality of life.

Almost everyone needs medication of some kind to prevent or treat illness. As a child you may be vaccinated against a range of diseases, including tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella. Then, as you go through life, it is likely that a visit to your GP (general practitioner) will result in a prescription.

These days it seems that there truly are “pills for all ills”. You can get drugs to help you sleep, relieve pain, reduce inflammation, kill infection, combat depression, reduce cholesterol, prevent pregnancy, as an aid to quitting smoking… the list is practically endless.

Even people who rarely need to consult a doctor will still have a variety of products in their medicine cabinets that they bought over-the-counter from the pharmacy – pain killers, cough mixture, indigestion tablets, throat lozenges, cream for insect bites, those tablets you bought on holiday for an upset stomach.

Of course, as we know, there are still many devastating diseases with no known cure, in particular HIV/AIDS and cancer. While effective medicines for these and other fatal conditions continue to be the Holy Grail for research scientists, there are a variety of pharmaceutical preparations available to help prolong the lives of sufferers.

These synthetic drugs are undoubtedly essential to medicine today but, in historical terms, they are a relatively recent development ... Download the Magazine (below) to read the complete article

GEA and the pharmaceutical industry


The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most regulated in the world. Manufacturing medicines therefore has to be precise, fast and follow very strict standards.

No one understands this better than GEA’s Pharma Systems companies. This is the umbrella organization that unites the expertise of Aeromatic-Fielder™, Buck®, Collette™, Courtoy, GEA Lyophil and Niro.

The group is a world leader in providing technically advanced process solutions for solid dosage forms to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. It can provide standard units or custom-built systems for all phases of pharmaceutical processing, including materials handling, mixing/blending, granulation, drying, tablet compression, pelletizing, coating and inspecting.

There is a growing trend among the major companies to use one supplier because this ensures seamless links between the different stages of the production line. GEA’s Pharma Systems companies not only supply the equipment but provide a full back-up service, including process support at their Technology Centres.

Productivity and performance are the demands of today's pharmaceutical industry, these demands are met by integrated granulation lines supplied by Aeromatic Fielder which incorporate advanced features such as CIP (cleaning in-place) allowing the plant to be deactivated and cleaned without exposing the operators to the active substance.

They are also continually adapting to meet customers’ needs. Increasingly, pharmaceutical manufacturers want modular equipment that gives them more flexibility. Courtoy has devised the revolutionary MODUL™ tablet press. All the parts that come into contact with product are contained in an Exchangeable Compression Module (ECM). This means that, at the end of a batch, the operator simply replaces the ECM with a clean unit, saving downtime and improving productivity.

Safety of employees is always a major issue for pharmaceutical companies. So GEA’s Pharma Systems is continually making advances in contained materials handling based on its proven Buckvalve split-valve technology. Niro is was the first to introduce spray drying to the pharmaceutical industry, offering unique solutions for inhaled drugs and for the taste masking of drugs that have an unpleasant taste. Their The latest new technology launch from Collette™ is Consigma®, a new continuous granulation and drying technique that requires "zero scale-up" i.e. enabling pharmaceutical companies to do their R&D and continue with production on the same machine.

All the companies that make up GEA’s Pharma Systems have a thorough understanding of the industry’s strict requirements. This, together with an excellent reputation established over more than 50 years, has attracted an impressive client list, including the top 50 pharmaceutical companies.