CDI-Type II: Cyber-enabled engineering of pharmaceutical products

将新发现的药物转化为药物产品的长时间和高成本是导致新药价格高的重要因素，该药物产品在患者服用时将具有期望的性能特性。这项工作需要设计正确的成分组合和形式，以及高效和强大的制造工艺。这些活动现在主要是通过试错手段、使用传统设备和依靠过去的经验来进行的。业界和学术界普遍认为，要改变目前的模式，需要对基础科学和工程有新的理解，需要新的工程方法和基于计算机的预测工具。此外，该行业需要一支接受过这些新方法和工具培训的员工队伍，以加快所需的转型。该项目将满足这两方面的需求。它将创建一套具有代表性的工具、方法和教育材料，并建立一个名为PharmaHub的枢纽技术，通过虚拟协作共享和发展技术。该项目将实施一个预测模型库，用于最重要的平板电脑制造操作的设计和操作，将开发基于计算机的模型，用于预测药物产品(如片剂)将如何分解和溶解，并将建立虚拟患者群体模型，可用于预测特定药物在体内的传输效率。这一方法的使用将通过对五种特定药物产品的案例研究来演示。基于NSF赞助的HUBZO中间件，PharmaHub将通过网络和互联网提供对所有创建和贡献的工具、方法和教育内容的开放访问，允许在服务器群上轻松下载或直接执行应用程序。它还将允许实地研究人员以简单和透明的方式轻松地上传和安装他们的发展、讲座和教育材料，从而极大地加速社区知识的增长。该项目将借鉴国家科学基金会结构化有机颗粒系统ERC以及国家制药技术和教育研究所等研究工作产生的成果，该研究所的合作伙伴积极参与其中。更广泛的影响这些工具和相关的教育材料可在PharmaHub上公开获取，它们将作为适合学生和专业人员的制药工程新课程和学位计划的核心组成部分。

0941302ReklaitisIntellectual MeritThe long time and high cost of translating a newly discovered drug to a drug product that will have the desired performance properties when taken by the patient, are significant factors contributing to the high price of new drugs. The work requires designing the right combination and form of ingredients as well as efficient and robust manufacturing processes. These activities are now carried out largely by trial and error means using traditional equipment and relying on past experience. It is widely recognized by the industry and academia that to change the current mode requires new fundamental science and engineering understanding, new engineering methods and computer-based predictive tools. Additionally, the industry needs a workforce that is trained in these new methods and tools to accelerate the desired transformation. This project will address both of these needs. It will create a representative set of tools, methods and education materials and build a hub technology, called pharmaHUB for sharing and growing the technology through virtual collaboration. The project will implement a library of predictive models for the design and operation of the most important tablet manufacturing operations, will develop computer-based models for predicting how a drug product, such as a tablet, will break apart and dissolve, and will build virtual patient population models that can be used to predict how effectively a specific drug is transported within the body. The use of this methodology will be demonstrated through case studies with five specific drug products. Based on NSF sponsored HUBzero middleware, pharmaHUB will provide open access via the web and internet to all of the created and contributed tools, methods and education content, allowing easy downloading or direct execution of applications on the server farm. It will also allow researchers in the field to easily upload and install their developments, lectures and educational materials in a simple and transparent fashion thus dramatically accelerating community knowledge growth. The project will draw from the results generated in research efforts such as the NSF ERC on Structured Organic Particulate Systems as well as the work of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, in which the co-pi's are actively involved. Broader ImpactThe tools and associated education materials, openly accessible on pharmaHUb, will serve as core components of new courses and degree programs in pharmaceutical engineering suitable for both students and professionals.