Cost pressures, pharmaceutical industry

The precious metals are many times the cost of the base metals and, therefore, are limited to specialized applications or to those in which process conditions are highly demanding (e.g., where conditions are too corrosive for base metals and temperatures too high for plastics where base metal contamination must be avoided, as in the food and pharmaceutical industries or where plastics cannot be used because of heat transfer requirements and for special applications such as bursting discs in pressure vessels). The physical and mechanical properties of precious metals and their alloys used in process plants are given in Table 3.38. 

There is intense economic pressure on the pharmaceutical industry by those who pay for its products to make the development of drugs more efficient and thereby reduce or at least contain costs. Industry executives ignore this clamor at their own peril. A widely embraced strategy to improve productivity is to integrate drug discovery and development by bringing company researchers from basic, preclini-... 

In spite of the above difficulties, several companies have introduced nanoemulsions onto the market, and their benefits will be evaluated within the next few years. Nanoemulsions have been used in the pharmaceutical industry as drug-delivery systems [5], although the acceptance by customers of nanoemulsions as a new type of formulation depends on how they are perceived and their efficacy. With the advent of new instruments for high-pressure homogenisation, and the competition between various manufacturers, the cost of nanoemulsion production wiU surely and may even approach that of classic macroemulsions. Fundamental investigations into the role of surfactants in the process [6,7] will lead to optimised emulsifier systems such that a more economic use of surfactants will doubtless emerge. 

There are increasing pressures on the pharmaceutical industry to use environmentally friendly materials in products, which are biodegradable or recyclable and do no harm to the environment. Examples are the replacement of CFCs in pressurised metered dose aerosols and the replacement of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for alternative packaging materials in some countries. Any special restrictions on the use of materials in the product need to be identified at the product design stage. The choice of appropriate materials to suit product, customer and environment may also have cost implications. 

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