This Comment explores why continuous crystallization, despite its success in other industries, remains underutilized in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Among other challenges, we highlight two core issues: the lack of off-the-shelf small-scale equipment with integrated monitoring tools, and the absence of compatible continuous downstream units for filtration and drying, both of which limit practical implementation.
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Acknowledgements
G.A. was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Advanced Manufacturing Program (CMMI-2242255). We extend our gratitude to the industry and academic researchers who shared their challenges related to and contributed to discussions on continuous crystallization, particularly during the AIChE Annual Meeting 2024 in San Diego (USA).
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Nature Chemical Engineering thanks Jan Sefcik and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Aprile, G., Devos, C., Vetter, T. et al. Reflecting on barriers to continuous pharmaceutical crystallization. Nat Chem Eng 2, 520–523 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44286-025-00268-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44286-025-00268-w
