The R&D department of IOI Oleo GmbH supports you – from the idea to the first product

29. August 2024

As a leading company in the field of speciality lipids and pharmaceutical oleochemicals, IOI Oleo GmbH develops innovative and sustainable processes, products and formulations at its research centre in Witten

In addition to its expertise in the field of structural and product development, IOI Oleo GmbH has increasingly expanded its scale-up and process development activities in recent years. Since 2021, Research and Development has been able to scale up from the laboratory to the pilot plant scale, including for clinical studies, by building a cGMP-certified 150 kg pilot plant. The design of the plant allows both liquid and solid products (temp 80 °C) to be processed and variable batch sizes of 50-150 kg to be implemented (read more about our R&D department here).

This offers you the following advantages:

Guarantee of scalability in product development, thus reducing the risk in your development

Provision of larger quantities of material for your development and scale-up activities

Clinical trial supply under cGMP conditions

Shortened project times

Contract manufacturing option

The first step towards a new product

Yet another advantage is the cGMP certification of the pilot plant, which enables the production and provision of material for clinical trials under cGMP conditions.

Project example:

At the beginning of 2023, our CARE Studio and R&D department launched a new project to produce polymorph-free stick formulations (DYNASAN® CrystalCONTROL L – Formulator’s jewel for worry-free processes). In a constructive and productive project planning process, the idea for DYNASAN® CrystalCONTROL L was successfully implemented within a year.

The close collaboration between development and application went through the following steps:

  • Production of the first prototypes up to the kilogram scale
  • Evaluation and optimisation of the prototypes in initial application-related tests and preformulations
  • Complete characterisation of the target product, including initial analytical method development
  • Scale-up to provide samples on a 150 kg scale
  • Implementation on variable production scale

If you have any questions, our experts are always happy to help. We would be delighted to discuss your individual needs with you and offer you customised solutions.

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Tanja Freichel

Dr Tanja Freichel studied chemistry at the University of Frankfurt, before moving to Düsseldorf to work on her PhD thesis at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry. During her thesis, Tanja broadened her experience in interdisciplinary fields by investigating the structure-activity relationship of synthetic biomimetics in biological applications. In 2019, Tanja joined IOI Oleo GmbH as a research chemist in the R&D team. She has been leading the R&D laboratories and mini pilot plants, developing and investigating new innovative products and sustainability-driven technologies with her team since 2020. In her free time, Tanja likes to travel to explore new countries and culinary cultures. Furthermore, she enjoys good live music and loves spending time with her family and friends.