Advanced Chemical & Process Manufacturing

8th century · around 1,300 years ago

Jabir ibn Hayyan advanced distillation apparatus and systematic experimental method

Work attributed to the early Islamic alchemist refined stills and other apparatus and promoted careful, repeatable experimental technique, laying groundwork later drawn on by chemical engineering.

1830 · 196 years ago

Aeneas Coffey patented a continuous still for distillation

The column still allowed distillation to run as an uninterrupted flow of vapour and liquid rather than as a sequence of separate batches, a conceptual shift later carried into chemical manufacturing.

1831 · 195 years ago

Peregrine Phillips patented the contact process for sulfuric acid

The continuous catalytic gas-phase process, patented in Bristol, eventually replaced older batch methods and became the basis for nearly all industrial sulfuric acid production.

1913 · 113 years ago

The Haber-Bosch process brought continuous catalytic synthesis to industrial chemistry

BASF's Oppau plant fixed atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia through a continuous high-pressure catalytic process, establishing continuous-flow synthesis as the foundation of large-scale industrial chemistry.

• Carl Bosch scaled the process to industrial pressures

1941 · 85 years ago

Nobel company patented the continuous flow reactor for nitroglycerin production

Around 1941 the Nobel company obtained a patent covering a continuous flow reactor design used to manufacture nitroglycerin. This established continuous flow processing as an industrial-scale synthesis technique long before the term flow chemistry was applied to laboratory work, and tied the capability to the safer handling of hazardous energetic materials.

1942 · 84 years ago

Fluid catalytic cracking brought continuous catalytic processing to oil refining

The technology, developed for wartime aviation fuel production, replaced slower batch and fixed-bed processes with a continuously circulating catalyst, transforming the scale and economics of petroleum refining worldwide.

1990s · around 30 years ago

Germany's Institut für Mikrotechnik Mainz pioneered microreaction engineering

Research into millimetre-scale reactor channels established microreaction technology as a distinct engineering discipline, providing much of the design basis for later industrial flow chemistry equipment.

Early 2000s · around two decades ago

Corning commercialised glass microstructure flow reactors for chemical manufacturing

Modular glass reactor systems allowed fine chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers to run hazardous reactions, including nitrations and hydrogenations, in continuous flow at production scale rather than in large batch vessels.

2007 · 19 years ago

Novartis and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology founded a joint centre for continuous manufacturing research

The partnership funded a decade of research into integrated, end-to-end continuous drug production, producing much of the academic groundwork later cited by regulators drafting continuous manufacturing guidance.

2015 · 11 years ago

Vertex Pharmaceuticals won the first US approval for a drug made by continuous manufacturing

Approval of a cystic fibrosis treatment produced on an end-to-end continuous line demonstrated to regulators and industry that continuous processes could meet the same quality standards as conventional batch production.

2022 · 4 years ago

The International Council for Harmonisation finalised the Q13 guideline on continuous manufacturing

The guideline set shared expectations for regulators evaluating continuous drug manufacturing, replacing a patchwork of national approaches with a common technical framework that industry had sought for years.

2025 · last year

Eli Lilly expanded continuous manufacturing capacity at its Irish site

Investment at the company's Kinsale facility added continuous processing lines intended to shorten production timescales and cut manufacturing costs relative to conventional batch chemistry.

2025 · last year

South Korean contract manufacturers added continuous processing capacity to serve international clients

Contract development and manufacturing organisations expanded flow chemistry capacity to compete for outsourced production work as multinational drug companies sought suppliers able to run continuous rather than batch processes.

2025 · last year

Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturers expanded adoption of flow chemistry for active ingredient production

Domestic drugmakers moved further into continuous processing as the regulator aligned its guidance with international standards, part of a broader effort to modernise a manufacturing base still weighted toward batch methods.

2025–early 2026 · this year

India used production-linked incentives to back continuous manufacturing investment

Bulk drug and active pharmaceutical ingredient makers drew on the government incentive scheme to help fund continuous processing lines, part of a wider push to cut import dependence and improve cost competitiveness.

• Domestic equipment suppliers began building reactor systems locally

2025–early 2026 · this year

Chinese API manufacturers continued shifting hazardous batch reactions to continuous flow lines

Stricter environmental and workplace-safety rules, tightened after earlier chemical-plant accidents, continued to push producers of active pharmaceutical ingredients and fine chemicals toward continuous processes that reduce on-site inventories of hazardous intermediates.

• Domestic equipment suppliers began building flow reactor systems locally

2024 · 2 years ago

Novartis continued operating its integrated continuous manufacturing plant

The Swiss site, developed with research input from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ran end-to-end continuous production from raw material to finished tablet, a reference point for the wider industry.

2024–2025 · over the past two years

Singapore reinforced its position as a continuous manufacturing hub

Multinational pharmaceutical manufacturers with established continuous processing plants on the island continued to expand output, building on years of government investment in advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing infrastructure.

• Singapore's Economic Development Board continued backing advanced manufacturing investment

2024–2025 · over the past two years

The US Food and Drug Administration continued its advanced manufacturing technologies designation programme

The scheme, intended to encourage adoption of continuous and other advanced manufacturing methods, continued to review applications from drug makers seeking a defined regulatory pathway for novel production technology.

2024–2025 · over the past two years

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons flagged automated flow chemistry platforms as an emerging proliferation concern

Scientific advisers to the chemical weapons watchdog highlighted automated, software-directed synthesis platforms as technology whose civilian and dual-use applications were converging, complicating existing verification approaches under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

• Academic laboratories continued developing automated synthesis platforms

2024–2025 · over the past two years

Regulators under the International Council for Harmonisation continued rolling out the Q13 continuous manufacturing guideline

National agencies including US, European, Japanese and other regulators progressed adoption of the shared technical guideline for continuous manufacturing, intended to give companies a common regulatory pathway across markets.