Emerging analytical techniques for pharmaceutical quality control: Where are we in 2022?

Abstract

Quality control is a fundamental and critical activity in the pharmaceutical industry that guarantees the quality of medicines. QC analyses are currently performed using several well-known techniques, mainly liquid and gas chromatography. However, current trends are focused on the development of new techniques to reduce analysis time and cost, to improve the performances and decrease ecological footprint. In this context, analytical scientists developed and studied emerging technologies based on spectroscopy and chromatography. The present review aims to give an overview of the recent development of vibrational spectroscopy, supercritical fluid chromatography and multi-dimensional chromatography. Selected emerging techniques are discussed using SWOT analysis and published pharmaceutical QC applications are discussed.

Keywords: Multidimensional chromatography; NIR spectroscopy; Pharmaceuticals; Quality control; Raman spectroscopy; Supercritical fluid chromatography; Vibrational spectroscopy.