The Development and Characterisation of Pharmaceutical Solids

Healing Crystals? The Development and Characterisation of Pharmaceutical Solids

Date: Thursday 12 February 2015
Time: 5.30 pm to 6.45 pm
Location: Eastern Gateway Building, Brunel University London

Professor Christopher Frampton, Professor of Structural Chemistry and Crystal Engineering in the Institute of Materials and Manufacturing will deliver his Inaugural Lecture entitled “Healing Crystals? The Development and Characterisation of Pharmaceutical Solids”.
About the Lecture

Alternative medicine has long promoted crystals as having ‘mystical healing’ properties, yet in reality crystalline materials come with their own unique set of challenges that play havoc with attempts to develop new drugs and medicines. One of these is polymorphism, where a single active ingredient can cause drastically different effects depending on whether it is in its liquid or solid form. Many major setbacks to new treatments have been caused by a lack of understanding of the solid-state properties of a key material.

As a consequence investigations into the pharmaceutical solid-form need to be conducted at an early stage of the drug development process. In this lecture Brunel’s Professor Christopher Frampton will outline the latest approaches to solid-form drug development including polymorphism, salt-selection and cocrystallisation studies.

About Professor Christopher Frampton

Professor Chris Frampton obtained his BSc in Chemistry and his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Essex in 1981 and 1985 respectively.
After completion of his Ph.D research he took up a postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Professor Tom Birchall and Professor Ron Gillespie at McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, researching into the correlation of crystal structure data with Mössbauer spectroscopic parameters of high-oxidation state main-group compounds. He subsequently took up the management position of the single-crystal X-ray facility at McMaster University.

Prior to his more recent academic positions, Professor Frampton was a cofounder and member of the scientific advisory board of Nuformix (2009), a company devoted to the exploitation of cocrystal technology to improve the pharmaceutical characteristics and generate new IP for new and existing drug products.

Cofounder and Director of Pharmorphix Ltd. (July 2003), consultancy and solid-form research services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. He joined Pharmorphix full time in January 2005 as Chief Scientific Officer. Pharmorphix was acquired by SAFC Pharma, A Sigma-Aldrich Company Ltd. in August 2006.

Director of Strategic Marketing at Bruker AXS where he was responsible for new technology in the bio-market. He joined Bruker AXS after 9 years at Roche Discovery Welwyn, a UK-based semi-autonomous research and development division of F. Hoffman La-Roche AG, with the primary responsibility for the establishment of a single crystal X-ray diffraction laboratory to support both medicinal chemistry and the pre-clinical Pharmaceutical Development Department. This included participating in research projects that led to the successful market launch of drugs such as the influenza neuraminidase inhibitor Tamiflu® (oseltamivir phosphate) and a first-generation HIV protease inhibitor Invirase® (saquinivir mesylate). He is the author and co-author of over 130 peer-reviewed research publications which have appeared in many high-impact journals and is a member of the editorial board of for Acta Crystallographica, Sect. C and the Journal of Crystallography.

He has acted as an expert witness in a number of high profile legal cases, involving the solid form of pharmaceutical drug substances, in both the US and the UK. More recently, (November 2013), he has taken up a Chair in Structural Chemistry and Crystal Engineering within the Wolfson Centre for Materials Processing at Brunel University and holds the post of Research Associate of Girton College, University of Cambridge.

Book Your Place

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School groups welcome - suitable particularly for Year 11 and 12 students considering studying Engineering or Law.

Arrival instructions will be emailed with booking confirmation. Light refreshments will follow the lecture.

Please note: Photographs and/or video recording will take place at this event which may be used in Brunel University's promotional materials (both in print and online).