AIMPLAS relies on Leistritz expertise

AIMPLAS Cleanroom and the Leistritz ZSE 18 HP-PH.

An ZSE 18 HP-PH has been operating in the ISO7/GMP cleanroom at the Spanish technology center AIMPLAS since August. With the versatile small extruder from Leistritz Extrusionstechnik GmbH, the research and development facility is now taking a step toward pharmaceutical applications. "We have over 30 systems with which we develop or test various plastic applications," says Raquel Llorens, Health Senior Researcher at AIMPLAS. "We want to expand our scope to other important fields: including the pharmaceutical (HME) and cosmetic industries, material development for bone and tissue regeneration, as well as the development of medical devices." AIMPLAS already has a ZSE 27 MAXX system from Leistritz, used for research & development in reactive extrusion, recycling, and other compounding applications.

Versatile and easily scalable

"We are very pleased that AIMPLAS has chosen a Leistritz extruder," says Albrecht Huber, Product Area Manager for Life Science & Pharma at Leistritz Extrusionstechnik GmbH. "The ZSE 18 HP-PH is the perfect extruder for hot melt extrusion, wet granulation, or filament extrusion – precisely the applications that are important for AIMPLAS. The system can be used both for formulation development and for small-batch production." One of the decisive factors was certainly the fact that the machine geometry of all ZSE HP-PH extruders (with screw diameters from 12 to 50 mm) is the same. This allows for a straightforward scale-up from laboratory to production scale, making it possible to transfer customer trials to larger production systems.

Comprehensive additional equipment

In the field of pharmaceutical extrusion, Leistritz is well-positioned: The extrusion experts offer various downstream equipment depending on the needs, such as cooling roll cooling or the micro pelletizer for pellet sizes up to 0.5 mm in diameter. The process experts from Nuremberg also excel in inline process monitoring with UvVis technology as a PAT device (Process Analytical Technology). The extrusion line at AIMPLAS, which also includes a side feeding system for conveying material downstream into the melt, is qualified according to the latest GMP guidelines.