GALA Platform

The GALA® (Advanced GALenic) platform is part of the Rapsodee Center UMR CNRS 5302 (Albi Research in Process Engineering of Divided Solids, Energy and Environment) UMR CNRS 5302 which conducts research in the fields of energy, environment and particle engineering. The laboratory's activities are based on an engineering approach to processes oriented towards "products with controlled properties".

The Gala® Platform was set up as part of the State-Region Project Contract 2007-2013 with the financial support of the State, the Midi-Pyrénées region (now Occitania) and the Castres-Mazamet Urban Community (CACM). Gala® is identified as a structuring project of the Eurobiomed Competitiveness Cluster (accredited in April 2009).

At the regional level, this platform brings together a network of expertise involving chemists, pharmacists, physico-chemists and engineers, from 4 research laboratories in addition to RAPSODEE:

laboratoire SPCMIB UMR 5068 CNRS/UPS ;
le laboratoire de Génie Chimique UMR 5503 CNRS/INPT ;
le laboratoire I.M.R.C.P. UMR 5623 CNRS/UPS (Groupe S.M.O.D.D.) et
le CIRIMAT UMR 5085 CNRS/INPT/UPS (Équipe P.P.B.).

It is listed in the network of platforms of the Occitanie Region, in the FINDMED catalogue (a consortium of 16 Instituts Carnot whose aim is to support the industrial development of drug companies in France through the structuring of a first-rate offer and academic R&D partnership platforms), therefore entitling it with national exposure.

Certified by IMT in July 2019 ("IMT Platforms" certification), it will set itself fully in the IMT Platforms network as an emblematic and business-friendly centre, a striking feature of IMT in the field of contractual research and transfer to companies.

A diversified offer suited to the needs of companies

The Gala® Regional Technology Platform specialises in the development of innovative galenic technologies for pharmaceutical, food and health industries and public research laboratories. The galenic approach developed by Gala® has evolved and is now part of a broader scope identified as the field of complex materials. Those are multi-structured materials whose properties (solubility, dissolution, reactivity, etc.) reflect much more than the simple addition of the individual properties of their components.

The platform's technological offer is based on the development of both scientific and technical skills in the field of multi-structured materials: 1. Generation (generation processes, formulation screening methods (solubility, miscibility, interactions); 2. Behaviour (functionality, interaction with the surrounding environment, stability). The platform has become a key partner in this domain, at regional, national and international level.

Our partnership projects focus on the following themes:

Improvement of the bioavailability of molecules with low water solubility (human or animal health, agri-food, cosmetics)
Delayed or prolonged salting-out (human or animal health, agri-food)
Administration of unstable molecules (human or animal health, agri-food, healthy food)
Galenic forms for less invasive administrations (human and animal health).

These 4 themes form part of the investigations of several companies in our local industrial sector and beyond seeking to develop original formulations of galenic forms for their customers and offer the market both formulated products and excipients.

High-end equipment

The GALA platform is equipped with a scalable technical support unit that can be adjusted to the needs of manufacturers and is composed of:

A complete line of twin screw extrusion for pharmaceutical applications with hot melt extrusion and cold granulation configurations.
A unit for the production of microspheres and microcapsules with a tight grain size based on a liquid formulation - Prilling technique.
A drying atomizer enabling to work with aqueous suspensions or organic and mixed solvents.
Atomic force microscopy coupled to confocal Raman microscopy.
Laboratory granulator with coating system (liquid or molten coating - Hot Melt Coating technology)

Support from the Gala research and innovation platform to the development of local start-ups

During 2018-2019 , the scientific and technological activities at GALA® platform were marked by strong industrial and academic partnerships. Among the highlights, two collaborative research projects were launched with local start-ups, from the CMT incubator (Castres-Mazamet Technopole):

NEUROLIXIS is a Young Innovative Company (Jeune Entreprise Innovante) in biotechnology that focuses on the discovery and development of new molecules for the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system, in particular Parkinson's disease, Rett syndrome, depression and schizophrenia. The NEUROLIXIS-GALA® project, launched in 2018, has involved the development of a new galenic form to improve the use of a NEUROLIXIS compound, NLX-112. This innovative molecule, currently in the clinical study phase, is intended to treat dyskinesias that gradually appear in Parkinson's patients. The new galenic form of NLX-112 will optimize its anti-dyskinetic activity and facilitate the administration of the compound to patients. The promising NEUROLIXIS-GALA® project is therefore based on NEUROLIXIS' expertise in the field of pharmaceutical development and on GALA®'s expertise in the field of galenic innovation
CVASTHERA is a company dedicated to the design, development and registration of innovative medicines. The ongoing CVAsthera- GALA® project concerns a study in the field of pathologies associated with a dysfunction of the intestinal epithelium: chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), more specifically Crohn's disease

A privileged partnership with Air Liquide

With the contribution from this industrial company of two pilot equipment for research purposes to the Gala platform:

A cryogenic prilling pilot unit at the Air Liquide Paris Saclay Research Centre. Period of availability at Gala - 2014 to 2018 ;
A new Hot Melt Coating unit (granulator with Hot Melt Coating technology) from the SEPPIC branch - Air Liquide Healthcare Specialty Ingredients. Available at Gala: May 2019 to 2023.