Corning® Advanced-Flow™ Reactors

Continuous Flow Processing Technologies from Lab Feasibility to Industrial Production

Corning® Advanced-Flow Reactors (AFR) are specially designed to enable the conversion from traditional batch to continuous flow chemical processing for lab to industrial-scale production for the pharmaceutical, specialty and fine chemical industries.

The core of AFR technology is Corning’s integrated fluidic module with its patented HEART design, which we've meticulously engineered out of glass or silicon carbide materials to allow for rapid and seamless scale-up, as well as improved heat transfer, mass transfer, and mixing. 

By design, AFR is an inherently safer industrial technology for the production of chemicals. Our fluidic modules feature small internal channels to reduce reaction volume, which is a key factor in limiting potential risks in chemical processing.

Moreover, Corning reactors are more durable in corrosive conditions and address a wide range of applications to enable increased efficiency, scalability, yields, and higher quality chemical processing at a much smaller footprint compared to traditional batch reactors.

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Continuous Manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API)

Continuous Manufacturing has become an important tool to modernize the pharmaceutical industry by transforming traditional, step-wise manufacturing processes into a single system that’s based on modern process monitoring and controls. The application of continuous manufacturing (“CM”) enables a steady output of raw materials to finished goods in a closed system that creates efficiency, consistency in product and increased certainty in quality.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently taken steps to help advance the adoption of these manufacturing innovations. In a joint statement issued in February 2019, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, and the director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Janet Woodcock stated that “the closed and continuous nature of these CM systems means that the process is easier to control than the decades-old, traditional ‘batch’ manufacturing.” The FDA’s Emerging Technology Team was charged to “help early adopters of CM (and other advanced manufacturing technologies) surface and resolve implementation challenges and navigate the application review process for products made with these modern methods”. To help facilitate broader adoption of CM, the FDA also released guidance and information to interested companies, whether brand name or generic drug manufacturers.

Corning’s array of Advanced-Flow Reactor solutions serves as an industry leading platform for pharmaceutical manufacturers to advance their business on a continuous manufacturing platform – from lab formulations to highly scalable manufacturing products.

Learn more about how AFR technology can be applied for API production:

    -  First Industrial Use of AFR Technology at Angelini Pharma
    -  Advanced-Flow Reactors: from Lab to Full-scale Production

AFR: A Disruptive Technology

Advanced-Flow Reactors are a revolutionary improvement compared to batch reactors, and can achieve 100x better mass transfer, 1000x enhanced heat transfer, 1000x lower reaction volume, and 50x better residence time distribution.  These disruptive improvements enable shorter reaction times, better selectivity, safer operation, and higher yield, while reducing environmental impact and lowering cost for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Advanced-Flow™ Reactor Products

Global Presence

Our global presence ensures we can provide customers with cost-effective solutions, specialized engineering support, and unparalleled process expertise all around the world.  Please contact us at reactors@corning.com to learn more.

North and South America (NSA)
Corning Incorporated
Reactor Technologies
One Riverfront Plaza
Corning, NY 14830
reactors@corning.com

EMEA Lab
Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA)
Corning S.A.S.
Reactor Technologies
7 bis Avenue de Valvins
CS 70156 Samois sur Seine
77215 Avon Cedex, France
t + 33 1 64 69 71 07
f + 33 1 64 69 70 59
reactors@corning.com

 

China Lab
Corning China (Shanghai) RHQ
No. 358 Lu Qiao Road, Jinqiao Export
Processing Zone, Pudong
Shanghai 201206, China
t + 86 21 22152888 *1408
f + 86 21 62152988
reactor.asia@corning.com

India Lab
Corning Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
2nd Floor, Pioneer Square
CRPF Road, Sector 62
Near Golf Course Extension Road
Gurugram, Haryana 122005, India
t + 91 124 4604000
f + 91 124 4604099
reactors@corning.com