Powder Dosing Technology Recognised with the Queen’s Award 2020 for Enterprise in Innovation

3P is delighted to have been awarded with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation, in recognition of their Fill2Weight powder micro-dosing technology. Fill2Weight was developed 12 years ago after 3P engineers identified challenges in the field of micro-dosing and filling of powders for inhalers, that could be overcome with the application of technologies in a new and novel way. The Queen’s Awards have recognised the technology as a great example of innovation, where several different technologies have been combined into one highly effective and versatile solution.

Now used for multiple pharmaceutical applications, Fill2Weight precisely fills a wide range of pharmaceutical containers, including capsules, vials, inhalers, syringes, cartridges, blisters and other special containers.

A major challenge Fill2Weight addresses is getting challenging powders to flow so that very small (down to 1mg) and precise doses can be created. This is essential for high-potency drugs, where inaccurate dosing poses risks to patient safety. Its gravimetric system weighs and verifies every dose. Any doses outside the limits are rejected.

As well as excelling in accuracy, Fill2Weight is the fastest gravimetric dosing system on the market. Fill2Weight’s ability to handle challenging powders helps reduce drug development lead-times by enabling pharma companies to avoid or reduce the need for costly and time consuming ‘formulation for filling’ development work. This means customers can achieve ‘first-in-human’ milestones faster, with potential for new drug launch in shorter time-frames. 

Fill2Weight is a flexible and scalable system, ensuring early-stage manufacturing processes can also be used for commercial production. Its narrow design allows for multiple modules to be installed side-by-side, creating a multi-lane solution for higher volume production.

Another challenge 3P addressed was to ensure the technology could accommodate changing powder properties throughout a batch. Conventional filling systems cannot do this, affecting accuracy. Fill2Weight’s intelligent software algorithms automatically detect changing properties and modify dose settings to suit.

Fill2Weight’s technology requires as little as 2-3 grams for doses to be created for administration to patients or for other development tests, minimising the amount of drug product required. Unused powder can be recovered, meaning zero waste.

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