Research & Development

The R&D strategy of the Pharmaceutical Technologies Group is based on emerging areas of science and technology. Our research is application driven and is directed towards the development and commercial use of new technologies in healthcare and industry. We are strong on innovation, and involved in many aspects of basic research to the development of new products. The breadth of our activities are funded from a diversity of sources, from regional development agencies and national government bodies, to industry and venture capital.

The research is interdisciplinary, and there is significant cross fertilization of activities within the Group which has lead to the emergence of a number of collaborative research projects, in the areas of drug delivery, materials science & materials processing, analytical science.

Key strengths of the Group are:

• Drug Delivery
    InSMART – bioresponsive drug delivery (J Taylor)
    Polymeric micro & nano technologies (D Fei, W Schlindwein) and self-assembly systems (A Abioye)
    Coating technologies (W Schlindwein), taste masking & release kinetics (A Abioye) and biomolecule delivery (D Armitage)
• Materials Science & Materials Processing
    Amorphous materials & Freeze-drying (G Smith, I Ermolina, D Fei)
    Powder flow, inc. agglomeration and caking (M Leaper)
    Surface science, inc. biocompatible materials (D Armitage)
• Analytical Science
    Micro-analytical techniques (S Tanna)
           paediatric drug monitoring
    Stability prediction (G Smith, I Ermolina, D Fei)
           Molecular relaxation by dielectric and thermal methods
    Process analytical technologies (M Li, G Smith, I Ermolina)
           Terahertz, NIR, optical techniques (inc. light scattering),
            dielectric analysis (electrical impedance), distributed temperature sensing