The Importance Of Pharma 4.0 And Enabling The Factory Of The Future

By David Margetts, external Senior Industry and Solutions Advisor, Werum IT Solutions Asia

The terms ‘Internet of Things (IoT)’ and ‘Industry 4.0’ reference technology-driven initiatives that have begun to disrupt traditional manufacturing methods, equipment and processes. In this post, we’ll explore the relevance of these terms for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. We’ll attempt to answer the question of how we can apply them to improve the world of pharmaceutical manufacturing – and bring about Pharma 4.0.

What is Pharma 4.0?
Pharma 4.0 represents a shift away from focusing on producing to a fixed specification. Instead, Pharma 4.0 revolves around a system of real-time monitoring, simulation and control of manufacturing processes. The goal is to enable processes to self-adjust based on data from interconnected systems running throughout the operation. This concept builds on the principles of Quality By Design (QbD) and Process Analytical Technology (PAT) that started over a decade ago in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Until recently, however, our systems simply have not been able to produce this data and make it accessible for such advanced control.