Rolf Hilfiker 
Polymorphism 
in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Edited by one of the leading experts in the field, this handbook emphasizes why solid-state issues are important, which approaches should be taken to avoid problems and exploit the opportunities offered by solid state properties in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.
With its practical approach, this is at once a guideline for development chemists just entering the field as well as a high-quality source of reference material for specialists in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, structural chemists, physicochemists, crystallographers, inorganic chemists, and patent departments.

Table of Content

Relevance of Solid-state Properties for Pharmaceutical Products
Thermodynamics of Polymorphs
Characterization of Polymorphic Systems using Thermal Analysis
Solid-state NMR Spectroscopy
Vibrational Spectroscopic Methods in Pharmaceutical Solid-state Characterization
Crystallography for Polymorphs
Light Microscopy
The Importance of Solvates
Physical Characterization of Hygroscopicity in Pharmaceutical Solids
The Amorphous State
Approaches to Polymorphism Screening
Salt Selection
Processing-induced Phase Transformations and their Implications on Pharmaceutical Product Quality
Polymorphism and Patents from A Chemist’s Point of View
Scientific Considerations of Pharmaceutical Solid Polymorphism in Regulatory Applications

About the author

After gaining his Ph D in physical chemistry from Basel University, Switzerland, Rolf Hilfiker did his postdoc at Stony Brook, USA. He returned to Basel as a research fellow, initially at the university and then at Ciba-Geigy. In 1997 he became head of Stability & Kinetics group at Novartis, joining Solvias two years later where he is currently head of the department Solid-State Development. Dr. Hilfiker has taught physical chemistry in New York and Basel, and is a recipient of the Jacottet-Küng Award and a Treubel Fellowship.
He is author of more than 50 scientific publications in various areas of physical chemistry.