Marc Descamps, Professor in Solid State Physics at Université Lille and Lead of the European ID Network for Improved Drug Efficacy and Availability, joins Helen Winsor from Pharma IQ, to discuss the use of amorphous pharmaceutical materials to improve necessary drug properties. He sums up the important factors to consider when formulating an amorphous substance. Descamps reflects on whether collaborative projects between academia and pharmaceutical companies represent a new trend in pharmaceutical R&D. He then discusses his research interest, which focuses on phase transitions in molecular materials, disordered crystals, molecular glasses and using physicochemical techniques to study the structural and dynamic properties of pharmaceutical solids – explaining the impact of research on the development of new therapeutics. Finally, Descamps gives a taster of his presentation for the Amorphous Pharmaceutical Materials Conference 2011, which will explore the aspects of molecular materials transformed via milling and drying operations to induce phase and glass transitions of pharmaceuticals.

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