Webinar: Process Safety in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Process Safety Labs and Instruments Used in Process Safety Labs for Thermal Hazards

Program oversigt

  • Precompetitive collaborations in the pharmaceutical Industry
  • Calorimetry tools used in process safety labs in the pharmaceutical industry
  • Common practices used in process safety labs in the pharmaceutical Industry

Process safety groups in the pharmaceutical industry are crucial for developing safe active pharmaceutical ingredients. They carry out several tests to identify unstable reagents, solvents, and reactions that can cause potential hazards during manufacturing. To ensure that the operating conditions are safe, a working group was formed with members from different pharmaceutical companies. Their goal is to collaborate and share their process safety procedures and assessments. This knowledge will not only benefit the participating companies but also the wider community of pharma and chemical companies and academic institutions. 

In this presentation, Ayman Allian and Han Xia of Eli Lilly and Company discuss the instruments used in process safety laboratories to characterize thermal hazards and how they work together during the assessment process at each stage of development.

Target Audience

Process development chemists and engineers
Researchers interested in thermal analysis/thermal hazard analysis
Process safety chemists and engineers

References: 

Alabanza, L. M., Allian, A., Ferretti, A. C., Sarvestani, M., Sperry, J. B., Wang, Z., Xia, H., & Zhang, S. (2024). Process Safety in the Pharmaceutical Industry─Part II: Process safety labs and instruments used in process safety labs for thermal hazards. Organic Process Research & Development, 28(3), 704–718. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.oprd.3c00365

About the Presenters

ayman allian

Ayman Allian, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Engineering Technology and Process Safety - Eli Lilly and Company

Ayman is a Senior Director-Engineering at Eli Lilly and Company. He is currently leading an Engineering group focused on the development and commercialization of synthetic assets. In addition, Ayman manages Eli Lilly's central chemical and hazard evaluation lab. Ayman's experience includes supporting technical transfers from the lab to internal scale-up lab facilities and partner facilities abroad in countries such as Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, and South Korea. Ayman's interest in continuous manufacturing started about a decade ago when he developed and executed Abbott’s first continuous ozonolysis reaction. Ayman grew up in Jerusalem. After he obtained a bachelor's degree and MS in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, he went on to complete his Ph.D. in Singapore at NUS. After a post doctorate in Berkeley in 2008, he started his industrial career. Ayman recently completed his MBA with a focus on supply chains.

Han Xia

Han Xia, Ph.D.

Senior Advisor, Thermal Hazard Lab Lead - Eli Lilly and Company

Han is a Sr. Advisor-Engineering at Eli Lilly and Company. Han graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2017 with a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. After graduation, Han began working in the chemical hazard lab at Eli Lilly and Company, and he became the technical lead of the lab in 2020. His laboratory drives continuous improvement in process safety through comprehensive characterization and modeling of the kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of chemical reactions, process operations, and the materials consumed or generated in the synthesis of Lilly medicines. He coordinates across the R&D departments, internal and external manufacturing, global compliance, and global HSE to ensure process safety assessment for all of the assets in Lilly labs, plants, and supply chain networks around the world. Han grew up in Beijing, China. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Tulsa.