SAFC Pharma's Pharmorphix Solid State Research Laboratories installs new single crystal X-ray diffraction system

Oct 13 2009

SAFC Pharma®, a business segment of SAFC®, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich® Group (Nasdaq: SIAL), today announced that its Pharmorphix® Solid State Research Laboratories in Cambridge, UK, have installed a new single crystal X-ray diffraction system. The Oxford Diffraction SuperNova(TM) system, which can determine the crystal structures from the most challenging crystal samples, is the first industrial installation of this state-of-the-art instrumentation anywhere in the world.

Equipped with a powerful high flux dual wavelength microsource X-ray generator, the SuperNova instrument is capable of performing single crystal X-ray analyses on small microcrystalline fragments with dimensions of down to 30 to 50 microns. The dual wavelength capability will allow the rigorous determination of absolute stereochemistry of chemical entities which contain first row elements only.

Solid-form characterization and research is an essential part of the drug development process. A fundamental understanding of the physical properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) allows for the selection of the optimal solid-form to ensure patient benefit such as efficacy and safety, and protect intellectual property.

Professor Chris Frampton, Chief Scientific Officer for SAFC Pharma's Pharmorphix Solid State Research Technology, commented: "The installation of the Oxford Diffraction SuperNova instrument underlines our commitment to providing the highest quality data and service to our clients in the area of single crystal X-ray diffraction. The technique of single crystal X-ray diffraction is used extensively throughout all our projects and provides a fundamental understanding of solid state processes."