Market

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Pharmaceutical manufacturing turns liquids into dosed, sterile and documented product, and the equipment that touches those liquids is part of the quality system. Hygienic pumps, diaphragm valves, mass flow meters, filtration and CIP and SIP systems handle solvents, active ingredients, buffers and water for injection, under cleanability, material and validation requirements that leave little room for improvisation.

Every article below is selected for this market, alongside the experts, the videos and the newsletter editions that cover it.

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Latest Pharmaceutical Manufacturing news

Membrane Processes for WFI Production

June 24, 2026
Thanks to their energy efficiency and significant revisions to key pharmacopoeias, membrane processes have become an established method for producing...
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The Pharmaceutical Industry’s “Patent Cliff”: Could Electrical Tomography Provide A Parachute?

May 15, 2026
As industry professionals will no doubt be well aware, an effective pharmaceutical manufacturing process is the sum of many moving...
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Introducing CPC Biotech – One Brand Uniting Critical Fluid Management Components

April 29, 2026
New brand unites CPC’s Biopharma connector products with PSG Biotech’s pump, flow meter and sensor expertise - creating an integrated...
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PFA‑Lined Valves and Pumps for the Pharmaceutical Industry: Why Bayer has been Relying on Richter Solutions in API Manufacturing for 30 years

March 19, 2026
The manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients is under intense pressure worldwide: rising regulatory requirements, increasing product diversity, and the need...
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Canned Motor Pumps for Vaccine Production

October 28, 2025
While a world without vaccinations is no longer imaginable, the production of vaccines is often extremely difficult. A wide variety...
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Pharmaceutical Manufacturing experts

Erwin Weber has been working in the pump industry for over 35 years and has exceptionally broad technical and sales expertise. He began his professional career in design, gaining in-depth insight into manufacturing, assembly and service, and went on to play a key role in the development of the NETZSCH rotary lobe pump. He has been working successfully in international sales, project business and business development for more than 25 years and is recognised as an expert in handling complex liquids. Today, as Sales Director EMENA, he is responsible for strategic sales management in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. His profile is characterised by many years of experience, strategic foresight, entrepreneurial thinking, strong leadership skills and proven success in international sales and key account management.

Pascal van Putten, CEO at VPInstruments, has over 25 years of experience in energy monitoring for compressed air and industrial gases. With a background in engineering and a strong focus on sustainability, he founded VPInstruments to provide easy-to-use, reliable tools for measuring flow, pressure, power, dew point, and more. Under his leadership, the company has developed innovative products like the VPFlowScope flow meter series and the VPVision energy management system, now used in factories worldwide. Pascal believes that accurate measurement is the first step toward meaningful energy savings and carbon reduction. He regularly speaks at conferences and workshops, sharing insights on industrial energy efficiency. As part of this expert panel, Pascal looks forward to addressing your questions on compressed air monitoring and sustainable energy management.

Francisco graduated as an industrial technical engineer at the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Murcia, Spain) in 1993, and joined HRS in 1998. After a year as a design engineer, he focused on HRS’ food processing projects, developing, designing and commissioning large projects for customers. Throughout his professional career, Francisco has worked primarily within the food industry and has an in-depth understanding of its process nuances and requirements. In 2010, he was made Food Business Director for the HRS Group, supporting the sales teams’ engagements and customer requirements internationally across all of the HRS Group’s offices. Francisco’s extensive technical knowledge developed throughout his career as a design engineer, along with his ability to understand the unique needs of the client, have made him one of the top experts in the food processing industry.

Natalie Waldecker, Portfolio Manager Food and Pharma, knows the challenges of the demanding industries inside out. With her broad application knowledge, she is at home on topics such as hygiene design, certificates and cleanability. As product manager for pressure measurement technology, she is also responsible for one of the most important measuring principles for the industry. Natalie gathers her knowledge as close to the application as possible. Preferably directly at the customer’s site, experiencing “real world” practice. She has thus gotten thoroughly acquainted with international customer requirements and knows the ins and outs of the market. With this background, she is able to not only explain technical relationships in an understandable way, but also offer valuable tips and convincing solutions. In the 12 years she has been with VEGA, she has steadily improved her expertise which makes her the right person to contact for new product ideas and tailored customer solutions.

Latest newsletters on Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Our Market and Technology Focus editions, most recent first. Every Tuesday the week in fluid handling, on Thursday one market or one technology zone in depth.

More Pharmaceutical Manufacturing articles

World’s Largest Pharmaceutical Water System Runs on Siemens Technology

October 23, 2025
State-of-the-art automation and precision instrumentation ensure 24/7 delivery of purified water to 20 pharmaceutical operations.
Read more

How Small Adjustments Can Lead To Big Savings

August 27, 2025
Pharmaceutical manufacturers face a twofold challenge. They not only have to produce vital medicines faster and more efficiently. They must...
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World’s Largest Pharmaceutical Water System Runs on Siemens Technology

August 27, 2025
State-of-the-art automation and precision instrumentation ensure 24/7 delivery of purified water to 20 pharmaceutical operations.
Read more

FDA- Compliant, Corrosion-Resistant Valves and Pumps Revolutionize API Production for Ultimate Purity and Safety

June 17, 2025
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) are the heart of modern medicine. They are the chemical substances in drugs that have a...
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Canned Motor Pumps for Research Facilities

June 4, 2025
As part of environmental and climate protection, industrial refrigeration technology is increasingly demanding solutions that reduce direct emissions of refrigerants...
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Flow Measurement for WFI Loops: Preventing Biofilm Development

May 30, 2025
Within Water for Injection (WFI) loops, the potential for biofilm development is a critical threat that is primarily caused by...
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How High Shear Mixing Can Improve Your Pharmaceutical Emulsions

March 31, 2025
In the pharmaceutical industry, emulsions are a key component in many formulations and products. Emulsions are used in the manufacture...
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The Advantages of High Shear Mixers

January 17, 2025
At Silverson we have been providing mixing solutions to customers in the pharmaceutical industry for over 70 years. With our...
Read more

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing experts

Erwin Weber has been working in the pump industry for over 35 years and has exceptionally broad technical and sales expertise. He began his professional career in design, gaining in-depth insight into manufacturing, assembly and service, and went on to play a key role in the development of the NETZSCH rotary lobe pump. He has been working successfully in international sales, project business and business development for more than 25 years and is recognised as an expert in handling complex liquids. Today, as Sales Director EMENA, he is responsible for strategic sales management in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. His profile is characterised by many years of experience, strategic foresight, entrepreneurial thinking, strong leadership skills and proven success in international sales and key account management.

Pascal van Putten, CEO at VPInstruments, has over 25 years of experience in energy monitoring for compressed air and industrial gases. With a background in engineering and a strong focus on sustainability, he founded VPInstruments to provide easy-to-use, reliable tools for measuring flow, pressure, power, dew point, and more. Under his leadership, the company has developed innovative products like the VPFlowScope flow meter series and the VPVision energy management system, now used in factories worldwide. Pascal believes that accurate measurement is the first step toward meaningful energy savings and carbon reduction. He regularly speaks at conferences and workshops, sharing insights on industrial energy efficiency. As part of this expert panel, Pascal looks forward to addressing your questions on compressed air monitoring and sustainable energy management.

Francisco graduated as an industrial technical engineer at the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Murcia, Spain) in 1993, and joined HRS in 1998. After a year as a design engineer, he focused on HRS’ food processing projects, developing, designing and commissioning large projects for customers. Throughout his professional career, Francisco has worked primarily within the food industry and has an in-depth understanding of its process nuances and requirements. In 2010, he was made Food Business Director for the HRS Group, supporting the sales teams’ engagements and customer requirements internationally across all of the HRS Group’s offices. Francisco’s extensive technical knowledge developed throughout his career as a design engineer, along with his ability to understand the unique needs of the client, have made him one of the top experts in the food processing industry.

Natalie Waldecker, Portfolio Manager Food and Pharma, knows the challenges of the demanding industries inside out. With her broad application knowledge, she is at home on topics such as hygiene design, certificates and cleanability. As product manager for pressure measurement technology, she is also responsible for one of the most important measuring principles for the industry. Natalie gathers her knowledge as close to the application as possible. Preferably directly at the customer’s site, experiencing “real world” practice. She has thus gotten thoroughly acquainted with international customer requirements and knows the ins and outs of the market. With this background, she is able to not only explain technical relationships in an understandable way, but also offer valuable tips and convincing solutions. In the 12 years she has been with VEGA, she has steadily improved her expertise which makes her the right person to contact for new product ideas and tailored customer solutions.

Dietmar Saecker is temperature measurement expert at Endress+Hauser in Nesselwang, Germany. His experience covers technical sales support, consulting for difficult temperature measurement applications and international know-how transfers, especially in the Life Sciences industry. He also teaches at the Kempten University of Applied Sciences. Dietmar studied Chemical Engineering with a focus on measurement and control technology at the University of Dortmund. Experience from many customer visits has shown him that many problems arise from an incorrect choice of equipment. In lectures and training courses on temperature measurement technology, he demonstrates the complexity of the subject and regularly surprises numerous listeners with his thoughts and experiences. His recipe: “Recognizing trends and sharing knowledge. Because only when we share knowledge can we develop better solutions together.” Dietmar is looking forward to your questions and the exchange with you.

Paul de Waal is Dutch and educated as a Measurement and Control /Electronics Engineer. After a start as Instrumentation Engineer at Delta Controls, often outsourced to Shell, he became Managing Director of Sierra Instruments b.v. for almost 25 years. In 2012 he moved to the UK and now works as Business Development Director at Vögtlin Instruments GmbH in Switzerland. Paul has been active is several ISO committees and has a wide network of international relations that he can call upon to support him. (Vögtlin is part of the TASI group). He has practical experience with about every flow meter principle available. Currently his professional focus is application support, product development and international sales promotions. His main interest and experience lies in non-fiscal gas mass flow measurement/control systems and calibration. Gas mass flow meters and controllers used in applications like consumption measurements and distribution, gas dosing, mixing, (leak) testing, flame control, furnace, glass, heat treatment, packaging and analysers. Application for this can be found in industries like Food, Bio technology, Surface technologies, Welding, Medical, Pharma, Energy (Solar, Fuel cells, combustion, etc), chemical, semiconductor, metal industry and many more..

Eldad Ohayon is an experienced product management and business development professional with over 15 years of experience in industrial valves and fluid control solutions.

Eric Heilveil is a 30-year plus veteran in the process instrumentation marketplace. He started out his career working for Emerson Electric and later moved on to work with his current employer Siemens Process Instrumentation Flow Division. Throughout his career in industrial flow measurement he has held positions as a field service manager, a field sales manager, application engineer, product line manager, sales and product trainer, among other roles. Eric has worked extensively in the semiconductor, biotech, water and wastewater, food and beverage, automotive, oil and gas, and chemical industries. His current position with Siemens is as a Product Marketing Manager for flow products. Eric holds a dual MBA in marketing and finance. Based in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, throughout his career Eric has been responsible for business development and marketing of the Coriolis, clamp-on ultrasonic, magnetic flow and vortex flow products. He has been expertly selling, managing, consulting, designing, training, marketing and writing about flow measurement and control products that serve industry for his entire career.

Trevor Forster is Managing Director of the internationally respected flowmeter company - Titan Enterprises Ltd. His experience in fluid handling dates back to the mid 1960's when he started working on rotating seals and flowmeter design for third party clients. Trevor draws upon his extensive experience of using innovative design and production techniques to produce elegant flow metering solutions for organisations around the globe. Titan Enterprises supply a range of off-the-shelf flowmeters, application-specific flowmeters & bespoke flow metering devices & solutions. Their flow sensors are designed to customer specifications & to meet specific flow ranges & environmental conditions.Titan are also a supplier of NSF-approved flowmeters for food & beverage applications.

Hello, my name is Lee Sandry and I am a Sector Training Manager at Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions. My role primarily involves training sales colleagues to provide customers the best fluid handling solutions in industrial sectors, including water treatment, mining, chemical and construction applications. Being from Cornwall and surrounded by the mining industry, with a father who worked underground, my local environment was always about engineering and mineral processing. My apprenticeship when I left school was with the large mining machinery manufacturer, which has led me onto greater things. My background at Watson-Marlow started in 1996 when I was involved in the production of hundreds of parts that go into the manufacture of our pumps. This was followed with becoming a Technical Support Engineer, working directly with colleagues and customers globally. Site visits and constant customer-facing support at Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions, gave me the opportunity to experience many aspects of installation and operation of our peristaltic and sinusoidal pumps range. My aim is to enable sales teams around the world to provide robust solutions for demanding pumping applications, helping customers improve the efficiency and safety of their manufacturing process. Choosing the right pump can overcome problems that cause other pump types to fail. With no rotors to wear, or seals and glands to flush, peristaltic hose pumps handle abrasive fluids without the maintenance costs of other pumps. Whilst the extremely low shear and high suction sinusoidal pumps reduce product damage and cut waste in high viscosity fluid transfer duties.

Matt Smith is Sales Director at Silverson Machines, which has over 70 years of experience helping customer in the field of high shear mixing. Silverson Machines serve many different industries from Pharmaceuticals to Food and can be used in a variety of applications including emulsifying - creating stable emulsions, blending liquids of varying viscosities and homogenisation. Along with a dedicated and knowledgeable Sales team and Technical staff, Silverson Machines can help find the right mixer for your application.

Erik Tiemensma, Sales Knowledge Manager, has over 20 years of experience in flow and pressure measurement and control for gas, liquid and vapour. For many years Erik worked as Sales Engineer supporting worldwide sales channels in finding the best solutions for customers’ applications. At Bronkhorst we are convinced that sharing experiences and knowledge is an added value for customers, when discussing the most suitable products for their applications. As part of this expert panel, looks forward to your challenging flow or pressure questions.

Questions and answers about Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Pharmaceutical Technology can be defined as all technologies related to the development (including analysis, test, research and development, and quality control) of a pharmaceutical form using natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic active and auxiliary substances and industrial production.

Pharmaceutical technology includes methods, techniques, and instrumentation in the manufacture, preparation, compounding, dispensing, packaging, and storing of drugs and other practices used in diagnostic and determinative procedures and the treatment of patients.

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is the industrial-scale development of pharmaceutical drugs by pharmaceutical companies. The process of pharmaceutical manufacturing can be broken down into a series of unit operations.

The sterile and non-sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing process needs to be designed and operated to minimize microbial contamination. Good design practices require an assessment of hazards and a calculation of risks, together with risk mitigation strategies.

A purposefully designed monitoring regime can achieve a correct risk-assessed process. The scope of such assessments needs to begin with supplier assessments and control of incoming raw materials through to distribution of the manufactured pharmaceutical product.

Pharmaceutical fluid handling equipment includes a wide variety of equipment, such as (metering) pumps, capsule equipment (filling, sorting), mixing equipment, thermal processing equipment (coolers, chillers, dryers, heat-exchangers), (x-ray) inspection systems, and tanks for holding liquids.

To guarantee precise manufacturing and formulation development, nearly every process can be automated. Resultantly, there is a piece of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment involved in every processing step.

Fluid handling trends in pharmaceutical processing - Fluid handling technology in pharmaceutical processing

Hygienic fluid handling systems

Product integrity is crucial in the pharmaceutical industry. The highest sanitation standards must be observed for a product to maintain the same characteristics in every production batch.

In pharmaceutical processing industries, measuring and controlling the flow of liquids and gases demands exceptional process instrument performance and networkability.

Process systems for the preparation of pharmaceutical liquids

Production of pharmaceutical liquids is carried out in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks with stirring units under the addition of chemicals with or without nutrient solutions.

A complete understanding of the pharmaceutical production process is critical for the correct design. Clear definition, assessment, monitoring of essential parameters directly affecting product quality are the baseline for applying suitable process systems granting complete in-line and at-line quality control.

The vast majority of liquid pharmaceutical solutions require a variety of tankage, piping, and ancillary equipment for fluid mixing, filtration, transfer, and related activities. Suspensions, ointments, and other similar products, including the preparation of the solutions for freeze-dried products, can be manufactured in the same or very similar equipment.

Commercial liquid dosage manufacturing reaches large-scale production after being preformulated at the laboratory level, followed by formulation at the small scale and then at the pilot plant scale.

Due to the complexity of the liquid dose manufacturing process, scale-up from pilot to commercial production is not a simple extrapolation.

The primary ingredient in most liquid dose manufacturing processes is water. While it is the safest and most palatable solvent option, water quality is significant for the stability of pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Liquid pharmaceutical dosage forms

Liquid pharmaceutical dosage forms are essentially pharmaceutical products that involve a mixture of active drug components and nondrug components (excipients).

Liquid pharmaceutical dosage forms are prepared:

  • By dissolving the active drug substance in an aqueous or non-aqueous (e.g., glycerin, ether, alcohol) solvent,
  • By suspending the drug in an appropriate medium, or
  • By incorporating the drug substance into an oil or water phase.

Pharmaceutical fluid handling equipment and fluid handling technology

Sterile liquids manufacturing is universally acknowledged as the most difficult pharmaceutical production process.

When these products are manufactured using aseptic processing, poorly controlled processes can expose the patient to an unacceptable level of contamination.

The production of sterile liquid products requires fastidious design, operation, and maintenance of facilities and equipment.

It also requires attention to detail in process development and validation to ensure success.

Sterile liquids manufacturing is heavily impacted by formulation and the selection of primary packaging components.

The pharmaceutical processing industry is under constant pressure to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and maintain quality.

Forward-thinking pharmaceutical processing companies have invested in more innovative manufacturing and consider moving to a continuous manufacturing process.

The goals are clear, build in regulatory compliance, ensure close monitoring of processes, de-risk the manufacturing chain and enable fast drug release.

In pharmaceutical technology, the market has been increasing standardization in high added value equipment for years. Examples of this trend are autoclaves, freeze dryers, filling lines, distillers, etc.

However, when it comes to processing equipment for preparing, storing, and transferring liquid pharmaceuticals, no studies of needs and applications exist to date at the level of both engineering and pharmaceutical technology.

Sanitary centrifugal pumps circulate water for injection and cleaning fluids, while peristaltic, diaphragm and lobe pumps dose active ingredients, excipients and sterile product. Every wetted part has to be documented, cleanable and traceable to a material certificate. More in Pumps and Pumping Systems.

Sanitary diaphragm valves are the default because they are drainable and steam sterilisable with no crevices, supported by zero dead leg point of use valves on water loops and aseptic sampling valves. Surface finish and elastomer choice are part of the validation file. More in Process and Control Valves.

Coriolis mass flow meters dose solvents and actives by weight rather than by volume, which removes the density question entirely. Magnetic meters follow purified water and WFI loops, where the minimum velocity that keeps the loop sanitary is itself a controlled parameter. More in Flow Control and Measurement.

Sterile filtration of product and process gases, prefiltration ahead of it and integrity testing after it are part of batch release. On the utility side, filtration and UV protect the purified water system from bioburden. More in Fluid Filtration Systems.

Magnetic and top mounted mixers homogenise solutions, suspensions and emulsions in vessels that have to stay sterile. Bearingless magnetic drives avoid particle generation, which is why they are common in aseptic filling preparation. More in Fluid Mixing.

Conductivity and total organic carbon monitor purified water and WFI continuously, while pH, UV and near infrared follow the product itself. These measurements are the backbone of process analytical technology and of continuous manufacturing. More in Process Gas and Liquid Analytical Systems.

Three ways on from here

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing equipmentProduct types and the manufacturers that build them.Pharmaceutical Manufacturing videosSee the equipment run before you shortlist.Pharmaceutical Manufacturing eventsWhere the industry meets this year.