Grant: Alliance Grants

Conventional synthesis of drug molecules employs centuries-old, legacy technologies using large batch reactors (~4000 litres) that require tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investment. At this scale, the failure of just a single production step of a critical active pharmaceutical ingredient can cause an operating loss of hundreds of thousands to several millions of dollars. Despite the vast expense and concerns over batch failures, batch reactor technology is entrenched and is the go-to method that most drug-producers would design a business plan around today to take on such a project. Given the comparatively small market in Canada it is hard for Canadian business to make a case to take on such financial risk. Consequently, not only does Canada have a minor role to play in manufacturing fine chemicals for the global market, in many instances, it is unable to meet even its own domestic requirements. An alternative strategy to conventional batch reactor technology is to synthesize small molecules in flow reactors. Here, tiny amounts of separated starting materials and reagents are brought together where they meet and flow through small tubes the size of a drinking straw (or smaller) where the chemical transformation completes. Thus, minute quantities of product are made at any single point in time, but continuously over longer periods of time and/or in parallel to reach the target quantity. This significantly reduces capital investment, while making processes more manageable, safer both for chemists and for the environment, and eliminates costly large-scale batch failures. Regulatory agencies like Health Canada and The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) actively endorse this new strategy for API manufacturing as they envision that it will stabilize drug supply. Flow reactor technology being invented in the labs of the PIs on this project will place their collaborative company partners in unique operating space to lead globally in fine-chemical synthesis. Safe, large-scale manufacturing will be possible through continuous processes innovated in academic labs guided by decades of practical experience of scientists and engineers at companies who collectively contribute billions of dollars to the Canadian economy.