|
Pharma industry accelerates continuous manufacturing to drive efficiency in generics: Bernhard Meir
|
|
Nandita Vijayasimha, Bengaluru
August 18 , 2026
|
|
|
India has become the pharmacy of the world through scale and affordability. The next chapter will be driven by manufacturing innovation. Continuous manufacturing provides a practical pathway to increase competitiveness, enhance quality and future-proof pharmaceutical production in an increasingly dynamic global market, said Bernhard Meir, head of continuous manufacturing, Gericke AG.
As the global engine for affordable medicines, India’s generic pharmaceutical industry now faces a familiar pressure to produce more, faster and at lower cost, while meeting rising quality and regulatory expectations. For oral solid dosage manufacturers, continuous manufacturing is therefore moving from an interesting technology discussion to a practical business opportunity, he added.
Over the last decade, continuous manufacturing has matured significantly. Regulatory support, including FDA guidance and ICH Q13, has helped build confidence, and commercially manufactured products have already demonstrated that the approach can work in real operations. Even so, many companies still associate continuous manufacturing with complexity, high investment and implementation risk. That concern is understandable, particularly where earlier systems were narrow in scope, technically complicated and difficult to justify against established batch processes, Meir told Pharmabiz.
For India’s generic manufacturers, the decisive question is not whether continuous manufacturing is innovative, but whether it creates measurable business value. The strongest case is built around productivity, consistency, flexibility and cost competitiveness. Continuous processes can reduce manufacturing footprint, shorten production cycles, improve process consistency and increase operational efficiency. For high-volume products, these advantages can become economically compelling, especially when throughput requirements are significant. Here, Gericke’s continuous formulation solutions, for example, can support production rates of up to 1,000 kg/h, making the technology relevant beyond niche applications, he said.
The key to broader adoption is lowering the entry barrier. Generic manufacturers do not need another complex engineering project; they need a phased, practical pathway that allows them to test feasibility, develop a realistic business case and scale with confidence. This is where platform thinking becomes important where Gericke’s GFS Gen3 has been developed to support the journey from development to commercial production while reducing complexity and operational risk. Its philosophy of fast, simple and safe directly addresses the concerns that often slow adoption. A consistent process architecture can accelerate development and scale-up. Improved usability and repeatable setup can simplify daily operation. Scalable containment concepts can support compliance and operator protection. Most importantly, the platform is flexible rather than rigid, allowing manufacturers to adapt the system as process needs, product portfolios and business priorities evolve, noted Meir.
For India, this matters most and continuous manufacturing is no longer reserved only for large innovators. With simpler platforms, proven process engineering and more pragmatic implementation strategies, it is becoming a realistic tool for generic companies that want to strengthen competitiveness, improve resilience and prepare for the next phase of pharmaceutical manufacturing. Now Gericke’s role is to make that transition practical. By combining powder-processing experience with continuous manufacturing expertise, the company can help manufacturers turn continuous manufacturing from a perceived technology risk into a scalable route toward efficient, flexible and future-ready production, said Meir.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOPICS
|
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, has issued a public advisory urging citizens to report any misleadi ...
|
|
|
|
|