Case study

Patheon and IMA Active: advancing high potency solid dose manufacturing through technology, reliability and strategic partnership.

  • Reading time 24 min

  1. A study by

  2. In collaboration with

  3. Exclusively for

    Healthcare Packaging

Introduction

Originally established in 1993 and acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2017, Patheon is today one of the best recognised global CDMOs, supporting pharmaceutical companies in bringing high-quality medicines to patients worldwide. Thermo Fisher’s mission, “to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer”, lies at the core of Patheon’s operations and strategic vision.
With manufacturing sites across Canada, the United States, Puerto Rico, Europe, Japan and Australia, Patheon offers end-to-end solutions that include formulation development, clinical supply, commercial manufacturing, packaging and logistics.
The site featured in this interview, head by Michael Murray Director, Manufacturing Sciences OSD Global MSAT DPD at Termofisher, is located in Mississauga (Ontario, Canada). A centre of excellence for high potency oral solid dosage forms, the site produces approximately 1.4 billion dosage units per year. Manufacturing covers therapeutic areas such as oncology, antiviral therapies, CNS disorders, cardiovascular treatments and contraception, all of which require rigorous containment, process control and robust quality systems.

The collaboration with IMA Active

For a 24/7 manufacturing site serving over 1,000,000 patients every day, choosing equipment suppliers with the ability to ensure reliability, process stability and rapid service support is fundamental.
This is the foundation of Patheon’s long standing collaboration with IMA Active and IMA Thomas, which has led to the adoption of several key technologies across blending, washing, granulation and handling.

What is the primary focus of your business, and how do you differentiate yourselves in the market?

Patheon provides a fully integrated end-to-end service offering, encompassing development, formulation, clinical manufacturing, commercial production, packaging and global logistics.
This model allows customers to rely on a single strategic partner at every milestone – reducing operational complexity, ensuring regulatory consistency, and accelerating time to market.
Built on a foundation of strong quality systems and continuous improvement, Patheon stands out for its ability to support products from early development stages to full-scale commercialisation using a global, interconnected manufacturing network.

How does Patheon fit into the broader pharmaceutical industry?

CDMOs like Patheon allow pharmaceutical companies to focus their capital and resources on research and innovation, without the burden of maintaining or expanding internal manufacturing infrastructure.
Products manufactured at the Mississauga facility are shipped worldwide, to Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Australia, reinforcing the site’s role as a global production hub for high potency oral solid dosage forms.

Why did you choose IMA Active’s CANGURO 1200 for your production needs?

Several factors drove this decision:

• Interest in IMA’s technology, originally sparked by internal evaluations of the ADAPTA capsule filler and ATLANTIS washing station. The strong technical performance of these models led to consideration of the CANGURO bin tumbler.
• IMA’s status as a preferred vendor within the Patheon network.
When compared with similar technologies, three key elements stood out: quality of finish, cost in relation to capability, lead time.
Before finalising the choice, the team conducted internal studies confirming that the CANGURO’s offset angle would maintain or enhance blending performance, which was validated through practical experimentation.

You now have two CANGURO machines. Why did you reconfirm this decision?

The Mississauga site often duplicates a validated asset to expand capacity quickly, ensure operational flexibility, streamline training and maintenance activities. CANGURO proved highly reliable, and when support was needed, IMA responded promptly and effectively, reinforcing confidence in the technology.

What do you appreciate most about the tumbler technology?

Above all, its simplicity of use and operation, then the offset angle has demonstrated the ability to sustain or improve blend dynamics, contributing to consistent and uniform batch results. What stands out most in the tumbler technology is its remarkable ease of use. The system is intuitive, straightforward and designed to support operators rather than challenge them, an important advantage in a high-throughput environment. Beyond its simplicity, CANGURO’s distinctive offset angle has proven to sustain – and in many cases improve – the overall blend dynamics. This translates directly into more uniform, more consistent batches, reinforcing process robustness and ensuring that every blend meets the high-precision standards.

Why did you select IMA for your washing system as well?

A comparison of four competing washers showed that ATLANTIS offered the strongest washing performance and the most comprehensive feature set.
The successful installation in Toronto also supported the decision to purchase another ATLANTIS washing station for the Cincinnati site.
Beyond pure performance, environmental considerations also played an important role in the decision-making process. Energy consumption and cycle time are key factors the site evaluates when selecting equipment, and ATLANTIS demonstrated a clear ability to minimise both water and energy usage while still delivering highly effective cleaning capabilities. Its design integrates features specifically intended to reduce environmental impact without compromising compliance or operational efficiency. This balance of sustainability and performance aligned closely with Patheon’s priorities, reinforcing the choice of IMA as a technology partner.

You also use an IMA Active single-pot granulator. What benefits have you experienced?

The system provides a fully contained granulation environment, ideal for transferring high potency products with minimal operator exposure.
The system was acquired in partnership with a key client to ensure that the same equipment model could be used to transfer a product from another country without variation. The site has also previously purchased an IMA Active PRECISA weight-checking machine, demonstrating trust in IMA’s ability to support critical processing steps.

Considering your company is based in North America, how important is it to be able to count on a reliable partner like IMA Thomas in North America for your operations?

Given that manufacturing operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, having an accessible and responsive service team in North America is fundamental.
Timely support directly impacts the site’s mission to supply life saving medications to the one million patients who depend on them every day.

How will the partnership with IMA evolve?

Looking to the future, Patheon expects the partnership with IMA to continue evolving in a practical and customer-driven way. Feedback from North American users will play an important role in shaping future equipment designs, helping ensure that new solutions fit smoothly into existing processes with minimal change impact. At the same time, the growing demand in the region makes expanded local service support increasingly important. Patheon also anticipates closer collaboration on IT and digital integration, strengthening the connection between equipment, data systems and plant infrastructure.

CANGURO

Handling

ATLANTIS

Washing

PRECISA

Quality control

Related insights

White paper

Salty compression.

5 min

Brands: IMA Active, IMA S.p.A. – Active Division

Case study

High Containment in OSD

8 min

Brands: IMA Active, IMA Safe, IMA S.p.A. – Safe Division, IMA S.p.A. – Active Division