Successful collaboration achieves accurate prediction of microfluidic bead production
Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a polymer with broad utility, often used for the manufacture of highly monodisperse beads for controlled drug release and targeted drug delivery. Using microfluidic chips – such as those from Dolomite Microfluidics – to produce the beads provides the necessary precise regulation of bead size distribution, a factor that is of critical importance and can have a significant effect on the rate of drug release, as well as other features.
US-based company LEXMA Technology has developed unique software – MOEBIUS – which simulates the production of PLGA droplets in Aqua-Phase, and accurately predicts the trends in bead manufacture reported by Dolomite Microfluidics. This makes MOEBIUS a valuable tool for prediction of bead properties, potentially saving experimental time and money for labs using microfluidics. Franck Pérot, CEO and co-founder of LEXMA Technology, explained: “Setting up and optimizing a microfluidic experiment can take days or weeks; our software models the reaction before even starting the lab work, successfully simulating the conditions and expected results.”
Franck Perot (left) and Simone Melchionna (right)
Commercial Director of Dolomite Microfluidics, Richard Gray, commented: “LEXMA Technology ran its simulations against an application note from Dolomite Microfluidics, and found that it could replicate the data extremely accurately. This makes us confident that this combination could help to develop protocols using our microfluidic chips before they are implemented in the lab, with minimal additional optimization required.”
Simone Melchionna, CSO and co-founder of LEXMA Technology, added: “MOEBIUS allows us to explore different conditions before stepping foot in the lab; we can test things such as flow rates, concentrations, viscosity and chip coatings, giving us an idea of the best protocol without the guesswork. Our collaboration with Dolomite has been successful in proving the benefits of using a simulation to predict manufacture results, and we look forward to using our software to support future research labs and the biotech industry.”
To download the relevant application note, visit our Polymer Microparticle Synthesis application page.
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