AbbVie
Canvas Category OEM : Pharmaceutical
It takes unwavering commitment and confidence to bring solutions from the petri dish to patients. And it requires a continued investment in innovation to address the known and unknown challenges of tomorrow. Since our launch in 2013, we have invested ~$50 billion in research to discover, develop and deliver new medicines. We target diseases with significant unmet need where we can improve the standard of care with innovative new therapies. We’re constantly working to create solutions that go beyond treating the illness to have a positive impact on patients’ lives, on societies—and on science itself.
Assembly Line
Green Chemistry: Cleaner, Faster Chemical Reactions
Wilfried Braje, Ph.D., research scientist, AbbVie, uses technology that creates chemical reactions with less energy and produces less waste. Our approach circles back to the “founding father” of chemistry in water, Professor Bruce H. Lipshutz, who led a team of researchers at the University of California in Santa Barbara. They succeeded in performing several chemical reactions needed for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients in water using nanomicelles in water, rather than in harmful organic solvents. This process leaves behind virtually no waste. In 2014, I read about their work and connected with Professor Lipshutz. Eighteen months later, our team came up with our own technology allowing chemical reactions to proceed very efficiently in water.
Our technology significantly improves the initial chemistry-in-water method using a benign food additive. All of the starting materials are solubilized in water. And similar to the original process from the Lipshutz group, very little waste remains.
It also requires less energy. You go from carrying out reactions at 130° temperature in organic solvents to room temperature using our technology.