Development cost

Development costs often constitute a considerable proportion of the total cost of a project. If the process is completely new, these costs are often around 50% of the investment costs for the industrial plant, and perhaps more if a pilot plant must be built. Therefore, the development costs should be estimated prior to process development according to the following scheme  

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The partition coefficient and aqueous solubility are properties important for the study of the adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADME-Tox) of drugs. The prediction of the ADME-Tox properties of drug candidates has recently attracted much interest because these properties account for the failure of about 60 % of all drug candidates in the clinical phases. The prediction of these properties in an early phase of the drug development process could therefore lead to significant savings in research and development costs. 

A. E. Broderick (Union Carbide). HEC did not become a viable commercial product until the early 1960s. In addition to the general production problems and market development costs, new products face a variety of environmental controls in the 1990s that add more constraints to market development. None the less two more recentiy developed water-soluble polymers have achieved limited market acceptance and are described below. 

Many of the technical problems of fabrication that formerly inhibited the use of titanium alloys in dental castings (164—166) have been effectively solved, and titanium castings may now be obtained for virtually any type of dental appHance at prices that are increasingly competitive. Special induction or electric-arc furnaces are necessary for casting titanium alloys, and this specialized equipment has, until now, been available in only a limited number of commercial dental laboratories. However, the relatively high price of this equipment, attributed to development costs, is expected to decline significantly this should help to improve the general availabihty of cast titanium appHances. 

However, Lynn and Howland included in the fixed-capital cost not only money invested in production and storage facilities but also that invested in land, research and development costs, and any auxiliary facihties necessaiy to support the process. Typical values of capit ratios for the year 1958 are listed in Table 9-49. 

All research and development costs incurred during startup... 

Now you can reconsider the material balance equations by adding those additional factors identified in the previous step. If necessary, estimates of unaccountable losses will have to be calculated. Note that, in the case of a relatively simple manufacturing plant, preparation of a preliminary material-balance system and its refinement (Steps 14 and 15) can usefully be combined. For more-complex P2 assessments, however, two separate steps are likely to be more appropriate. An important rule to remember is that the inputs should ideally equal the outputs - but in practice this will rarely be the case. Some judgment will be required to determine what level of accuracy is acceptable, and we should have an idea as to what the unlikely sources of errors are (e.g., evaporative losses from outside holding ponds may be a materials loss we cannot accurately account for). In the case of high concentrations of hazardous wastes, accurate measurements are needed to develop cost-effective waste-reduction options. It is possible that the material balance for a number of unit operations will need to be repeated. Again, continue to review, refine, and, where necessary, expand your database. The compilation of accurate and comprehensive data is essential for a successful P2 audit and subsequent waste-reduction action plan. Remember - you can t reduce what you don t know is therel... 

A key aspect in most cost estimation studies is the evalutUion of the cost of individual pieces of equipment. In addition to quotations from equipment manufacturers, there are several methods for developing cost estimates. For a typical conceptual design, it is normally acceptable to develop an order of magnitude or preliminary estimate whose accuracy is within -h/— 25 to 50%. The following methods may be employed to develop order of magnitude estimates ... 

Although very efficient, the broad application of the direct preparation is restricted due to the limited number of pure starting enantiomers. The design of a multistep process that includes asymmetric synthesis is cumbersome and the development costs may be quite high. This approach is likely best suited for the multi-ton scale production of commodity enantiomers such as the drugs ibuprofen, naproxen, atenolol, and albuterol. However, even the best asymmetric syntheses do not lead to products in an enantiomerically pure state (100 % enantiomeric excess). Typically, the product is enriched to a certain degree with one enantiomer. Therefore, an additional purification step may be needed to achieve the required enantiopurity. 

To reduce drilling and development costs, slimhole drilling is increasingly being used. Slimhole wells are considered wells in which at least 90 percent of the hole has been drilled with a bit fewer than six inches in diameter. For example, a typical rig uses a 8.5-in bit and a 5-in drill pipe, whereas a slimhole rig may use a 4-in bit and a 3.7-in drill pipe. Slimhole drilling is especially valuable in economically marginal fields and in environmentally sensitive areas, since the fuel consumption can be 75 percent less (mud pumps, drill power), the mud costs 80 percent less, the rig weight is 80 percent less, and the drill site is 75 percent smaller. 

From such information even the inexperienced estimator can establish an approximation of the costs, provided he adequately visualizes the work functions and steps involved. From the same type of work reference, the experienced estimator can develop a realistic cost, usually expressed with certain contingencies to allow for unknown factors and changing conditions. The professional estimator wall normally develop cost charts and tables peculiar to the nature of his responsibilities and requirements of his employer. 

Still, the discussion is not closed, and will continue producing fruitful results, with proponents of different designs working hard on developing cost-... 

Some structures with a similarity > 0.75 to these appear to be covered by a patent held by a competitor A report by a team in Marketing casts doubt on whether the market for this target is big enough to make development cost-effective... 

DiMasi JA, Hansen RW, Grabowski HG The price of innovation new estimates of drug development costs. J Health Econ 2003 22 151-85. 

Finally, external numbering-up may be chosen for simple, practical reasons, if the degree of parallelism does involve only low numbers, e.g. not exceeding 10 devices. Developing an internally numbered-up device will demand development costs and time and, therefore, may be inefficient at a low degree of parallelism. Meanwhile, since micro reactors are available commercially and tentatively will become cheaper, the rapid availability of a small series of devices is no longer impossible. 

Chemiefabrik in der Grojie eines Chips, Handdsblatt, May 1996 Vision of shoe box-sized micro reactors plant cells as model for micro-reactor development cost, performance, and safety advantages LIGA process numbering-up safety processing of hazardous substances [237]. 

However, the very complex mechanisms of action of these drugs and the pressure on the industry to diminish research and development costs require rapid advancements in the knowledge of the pharmaco- and physicochemical interactions of organic compounds with... 

The dilemma then is high development costs and high-risk returns. 

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