Toni graduated from the University of Birmingham in July 2013 with a first class honours degree in Chemical Engineering (MEng). In January 2014, Toni commenced an Engineering Doctorate (EngD), also at the University of Birmingham, in collaboration with Lexon UK, a leading pharmaceutical distributor, based in Redditch, Worcestershire and the EPSRC.
Toni’s project involves looking into ways in which the stability of suspending vehicles, used in the production of pharmaceutical specials, can be improved. Pharmaceutical specials are prepared by crushing a solid dosage form, such as a tablet, into a powder and dispersing it into an aqueous suspending vehicle to form a liquid dosage form. Specials are particularly useful for those who cannot or are unable to swallow solid dosage forms, hence they are currently in high demand in paediatric care and also the care of the elderly. However, the main drawback is that pharmaceutical specials have a short shelf life and are not very stable so they cannot be prepared in advance.
The main aim of this project is to therefore improve the stability so that the specials can be prepared in advance and be left on the shelf to be used when required.