This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 955756.

Prof. Martin Kuentz

University of Applied Sciences & Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Institute of Pharma Technology (FHNW)

Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology at University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland

Supervisor of ESR1, ESR2, ESR3, ESR4, ESR5 and ESR6

Background

Martin Kuentz has been Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland since 2007. He leads a research group in the area of oral dosage forms with a particular focus on lipid-based formulations and oral solid dispersions. Several projects in the research group target a better understanding of oral formulation performance. Particular interests are about gaining insights into the formulation microstructure and to study drug release, which involves in vitro digestion in case of lipid-based systems. Different non-invasive analytical tools are used such as, for example, Raman spectroscopy, UV imaging, ultrasound analysis, and diffusing wave spectroscopy. The research group was in several projects making use of mechanistic or data-driven modelling to gain a better understanding of dosage form performance, which should ultimately provide guidance to pharmaceutical scientists.

Prior to his academic assignment, Prof. Kuentz spent almost seven years in pharmaceutical research at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. in Basel. He was a senior scientist and departmental coordinator of assigned galenical development projects. Martin Kuentz earned his Ph.D. in 1999 in the group of Prof. Leuenberger at the University of Basel (Switzerland), where he also graduated earlier as a pharmacist in 1995.

Prof. Kuentz has published more than 150 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and has given numerous scientific presentations at international congresses. Prof. Kuentz won national and international prizes for his research activities and he is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Pharmazeutischen Verfahrenstechnik” (APV), the Swiss Society of Industrial Pharmacists (GSIA), and of Catedra Iberoamericana-Suiza de Desarrollo de Medicamentos (CISDEM).

Selected Publications

  • Wyttenbach, N., Kirchmeyer, W., Alsenz, J., Kuentz, M., 2016. Theoretical considerations of the Prigogine-Defay ratio in regard to the glass-forming ability of drugs from undercooled melts. Mol. Pharm. 13(1), 241-250.
  • Aleandri, S., Jankovic, S., Kuentz, M. 2018. Towards a better understanding of solid dispersions in aqueous environment by a fluorescence quenching approach. Int. J. Pharm. 555(1-2) 130-139.
  • Abreu-Villela R., Schönenberger, M., Caraballo, I., Kuentz, M., 2018. Early stages of drug crystallization from amorphous solid dispersion via fractal analysis based on chemical imaging. Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm. 133, 122-130.
  • Jankovic, S., O’Dwyer, P.J., Imanidis, G., Reppas, Ch., Kuentz, M. 2019. Biphasic drug release coupled with diffusing wave spectroscopy for mechanistic understanding of solid dispersion performance. Eur. J. Pharm. Sci., 137, 1005001.
  • Alsenz, J., Kuentz, M. 2019. From quantum chemistry to prediction of drug solubility in triglycerides and partial glycerides. Mol Pharm 16, 11, 4661-4669.
  • Wyttenbach, N., Niederquell, A., Kuentz, M., 2020. Machine Estimation of Drug Melting Properties and Influence on Solubility Prediction. Mol. Pharm. 17(7), 2660-2671.
  • Kuentz, M., Bergström, C.A.S., 2021. Synergistic Computational Modeling Approaches as Team Players in the Game of Solubility Predictions. J. Pharm. Sci. 110, 22-34