Lyophilization Process

How does the lyophilization process work?

Lyophilization is a very gentle process to reduce the water content of a product (freeze drying). It is often used when the pharmaceutical, on a diluted basis, cannot be stored for a sufficient length of time and/or precise dosing is not possible in the case of dry filling. Lyophilization comprises a total of three process steps. The first is the freezing of the pharmaceutical. The second is the main drying process, which entails the removal of water from the frozen solution under vacuum conditions. The third part is the secondary-drying. Depending on individual products, the length of process time can vary. It is carried out under sterile conditions. Before the invention of the user-friendly Vetter Lyo-Ject® dual-chamber technology, lyophilization was possible only in bottles (vials) and ampoules.