Dipankar Kaul -Head GMP Audits, Asia-Pacific- Novartis Technical Operations, envisages the many ways in which AI can transform pharma manufacturing operations and the present perspective of the science of pharma development, manufacturing and quality assurance
As the pharma manufacturing plants operate on computerised/programmable logic-controlled machines, instruments or technologies within fixed operating parameters to produce products of standard quality and specifications, compatibility towards highly automated and robotic machineries is evident. Through integration with AI self-learning machines, these complex operations can be simplified to a greater degree. The further development of these technologies will facilitate ensuring that these operations become more intelligent and efficient; however, they pose a challenge for the policy makers and regulators to redefine our knowledge of the current good manufacturing practices.
Some of the AI applications useful in text, speech, and video recognition can be utilised further to interpret the pattern and convert it into a meaningful and chronological script of events. While this will certainly reduce the time and increase the efficiency, it will also enhance the reporting quality. Machine learning thus employs statistical applications to identify patterns in the data then make predictions using those patterns. The AI lead machine-learning processes are capable of reading and recognising the key process parameters responsible for raising product quality.
Academics, researchers and a few industry players have been working on AI for several decades now, from as far back as 1955 when John McCarthy coined its definition. [1] Substantial material has already been published on AI and its prospects; however, its usability in various industrial and commercial applications is yet to be fully applied and benefitted. As stated, not all technological revolutions are straightforward and thus, in like manner concerns continue to arise on the ways that AI will integrate within the domain of pharma engineering and regulatory compliance. At least, this is the dilemma confronting the current pharma scientists, engineers and manufacturers. There is an interesting cultural challenge to overcome, which is technological innovation that supports AI, while the pharma industry has been built on
a strong backbone of ‘traditional’ science that the regulators expect.
A cautious approach has been made by data scientists from various tech giants, who are continuously engaged in constructing some of the AI systems for the pharma industry which has a necessary fence of regulations and is controlled by the health authorities. The present need is to determine that AI solutions are both feasible for use, and safe for adoption.
Perhaps many such technologies had existed earlier, but today they are poised to become mainstream systems with advancements in technologies brought in by IT giants. At the same time, the increase in automation and emergence of new technologies within the pharma industry over the last decades have altered our perspective of the science of pharma development and manufacturing operations. Also, the global expectations of the health authorities, to rationalise and validate pharma processes right from the moment of their development and establish scientific rationales undergirding the principal quality attributes and controlling measures are gaining greater acceptance. Consequently, the systems used to automate the process steps during manufacture, which are uninterruptedly evolving with the implementation of new
instrumentation, are well within the gamut of regulatory compliance and this further diversifies the need for various autonomous technologies.
Integrating machine learning with pharma operations
Plant efficiency and reliability are often cited as the potential reasons for developing and applying AI techniques, developing a variety of algorithms and expert systems to the control and operations. [2] AI is otherwise referred to as a process of evolving machines or a device to communicate, learn, plan and solve problems in a manner similar to the ways humans do.
Machine learning lies at the core of AI. Learning in the absence of any kind of supervision requires an ability to identify patterns in the streams of inputs, whereas learning with adequate supervision involves classification and numerical regressions. [3] Although, over time, machines become increasingly capable, and some of the tasks are removed from the list of ‘intelligence’, for e.g. playing chess is no more considered by some as AI which continues to be debatable as AI continuously evolves. However, with various technology giants, robotics companies and IT start-ups expressing greater interest and venturing into AI, the boundary between automation and AI appears to be more distinct. Therefore, innovative ideas continue to appear almost every year, and inventing autonomous machines is signaling the beginning of the AI revolution.
AI and pharma product development
AI applications have already been established and proven for pharmaceutical development. There are various publications demonstrating successful AI interfaces to develop pharmaceutical formulations or predict high yielding combination of chemical reactions. Utilising AI in technology can save time, money and resources, while providing a better understanding of the relationships between the different chemical reactions, physical processes and other related process parameters.
The right algorithms, which are a set of rules to be followed in order to calculate or perform problem-solving operations using computing devices, are fundamental to the designing of the AI architecture for a process industry. Neural networks are such rapidly growing technologies that can be applied to the development and processing of pharma substances and
products. Neural networks are the learning algorithms used within machine learning. In the recent years, neural networks have been demonstrated to be able to offer an alternative approach. Neural networks are mathematical constructs with their capacity to “learn” relationships within data, with no prior knowledge required from the user.
The current trends in pharma sciences portend a good outcome with the developments of information technology and AI. The “Quality by Design” cited in the ICH Q8 Guideline, provides enhanced scientific understanding of critical process and product qualities using the knowledge obtained during the life cycle of a product. In light of this development, “design space” is the area in which a product can be manufactured within acceptable limits.
The Neural Network generates and assesses a range of models to identify the one that will best fit the experimental data provided to it. As such, increasingly, artificial neural networks (often termed ANNs) are used to model complex behaviors in issues like formulation and processing of pharmaceuticals. [4] To create these spaces, artificial neural networks (ANNs) can be trained to emphasise the multidimensional interactions of the input variables and closely bind these variables to a design space. This assists in guiding the experimental design process to include interactions among the input variables, together with the modeling and optimisation of the pharma formulations. [5]
There are various machine learning algorithms viz. genetic algorithms or fuzzy logic which have proven to be effective and useful tools in predicting the results that arise from alterations in the input parameters, such as the formulations. Using this approach with neural networks can be productive as it provides “what if” predictions and optimisations. [6] The objective of this paper is to develop an integrated multivariate approach to obtain quality products based on a sound understanding of the cause–effect relationships between the formulation ingredients and product properties, employing trained ANNs and genetic programming. The data are generated through the systematic application of the principles of the design of experiments (DoE) and optimization studies using artificial neural networks and neuro-fuzzy logic programmes. [7]
The functioning supporting AI in product development arises from the predictive and deep learning algorithms which recognise patterns and continuously track the input versus output data and accordingly regulate the most suitable design space. This approach generates experimental data within all the possible sub-sets of the variables which could be referred to later on during the entire lifecycle of the product. This approach of using trained algorithms maps dealing with an input to an output and developing knowledge-space (a summary of all the knowledge obtained during product development) is in accordance with the approach of quality by design.
AI and pharma manufacturing operations
The pharma manufacturing plants which operate on computerised/programmable logic-controlled machines, instruments, gadgets or technologies are gearing up to incorporate innovations in therapies and new drug delivery systems. These plants operate within fixed operating parameters to produce products of standard quality and specifications, compatible with highly automated and robotic machineries. These complex operations can be further simplified by integrating with the AI-driven technologies or self-learning machines. These developing technologies will enable operations to become intelligent and efficient, although they pose a challenge for the policy makers and regulators to redefine the way we understand the current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs). As the GMPs require manufacturers of drugs and medical devices etc., to take proactive measures to ensure that their products are safe, pure, and effective, these pharma manufacturers are accountable to demonstrate that their technologies are suitably qualified and validated to consistently produce products of standard quality and efficacy.
Therefore, machine learning involves connecting good manufacturing practices (GMPs) with AI, in a way that the algorithms can recognise any inconsistency within the process and accurately detect them. A variety of sub-process viz. granulations, compression, blending for formulations and chemical synthesis for API manufacturing can be optimised on real-time basis to get standard quality of the in-process bulk. These machines will continuously track and control the process attributes and retain the right recipe for the formulation to maintain the dosage accuracy. What characterises these machines as being different from the present automated machines are the machine learning algorithms or mechanisms by which the continuously collected data will be utilised to make informed decisions on real-time basis. The synergy of robotics and AI can therefore revolutionise the entire spectrum of pharma operations as is possible in any other manufacturing sector.
Therefore, conventional manufacturing processes may undergo a paradigm change. Processes like granulation or compression of tablets or a progressive chemical synthesis in a chain of reactors can be rapidly achieved by eliminating or combining specific processing unit operations. This could involve either simply eliminating tasks that are no longer necessary or using deep learning machine algorithms for equipment that can operate machines to simultaneously perform more than one unit of operation at a time (multi-tasking).
While machine manufacturers mainly focus on eliminating the ‘Out-of-Specification’ (OOS) products, the AI-enabled machines will emphasise a means of rejecting the root-cause(s) for the output going ‘Out-of-Specification’. Understanding the logics and patterns, predicting the variations and adjusting the process beforehand will preempt unnecessary product failures. This will also minimise any redundancy in the process, improve the yield, ensure consistency and stabilise quality.
Besides these operational benefits, the AI-enabled processes will exhibit complete regulatory compliance. Regulatory compliance can be achieved and established through continuous monitoring, tracking not merely for the key process parameters alone but also by generating, compiling and