Tablet Manufacturing and Capsule Packaging: A Pharmaceutical Revolution

Simplicity and convenience have made tablets a popular choice in medicine. One of the major benefits of compressing powder into solid doses as tablets is in measuring the dosage of active ingredients accurately. Another benefit lies in the ability to shield unstable ingredients or mask those compositions having unpleasant taste. On the other hand, capsule packaging by experts further enhances the protection while enhancing the shelf life requirements.

Tablet manufacturing has been a pharmaceutical revolution. Its process starts with measuring and mixing the active ingredient and excipients; the latter helps in masking the bitter flavors while controlling the dosage. Then, the manufacturers would prepare the wet granulate using liquid binder-adhesive, create pellets and granules, dry them and finally pass them through a screen for uniformity in their size.

The experts’ capsule packaging is the final process before dispatch. They would use unit dose packaging through a solution such as blister packs that are created through thermoforming or cold forming. This gives the products a well-rounded finish. Capsule packaging uses three main materials, namely, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polychlorotrifluoro ethylene (PCTFE) and Cyclic olefin copolymers (COC).

Contract manufacturing has also made pharmaceutical production and distribution more effective and reliable. The gist lies in the improvement of medicinal quality and ease of use.

Compliance with cGMP for Quality Capsule Manufacturing

The need for compliance with cGMP guidelines is that the set standard for quality assurance helps in offering safe and effective health products and medicines to the consumers. The main role of medicines such as tablets, capsules, health care products and supplements is to meet the requirement of its intended use.

Whether one is putting up a capsule manufacturing plant or encapsulation unit, tablet manufacturing unit or any other contract manufacturing plant, it needs to be approved by the main regulatory body. The compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices help in the procurement of a license for carrying out manufacturing work at a unit.

A licensed facility is approved by the health regulatory bodies and similar national or regional authorities. Such a facility and its processes, methodology and operation complies with the guidelines laid down by the GMP or good manufacturing practices of a region or a country. These guidelines may vary from region to region and can have different specifications depending on the laws of Health and Public welfare divisions of the government.

The Health Canada has specific cGMP guidelines that need to be complied by and certain specifications fulfilled by the manufacturing units in the region. In order to carry out manufacturing processes in these units, Health Canada issues licenses for the contract manufacturers certifying that their activities are as per the Establishment licensing framework.

Processing Technology in Capsule Manufacturing

Introduction of advanced processing technology has made capsule manufacturing simple for leading contract manufacturers. The usefulness of technology can be realized in each and every process of manufacturing including material preparation part, gelatin melting part etc.

As far as the process of gelatin melting part is concerned, the general processing technology accounts for data related to the actual proportion of raw materials, melting temperature, gelatin melting time, viscosity of gelatin solution and also vacuum.

According to processing technology data, the raw materials for capsules should be prepared with the proportion of 42%, 38% and 20% of Gelatin, water and glycerin respectively. Where melting temperature should not exceed within 60 – 70 degree Celsius, the Gelatin melting time is 1 to 1.5 hours.

The capsule making process is all about forming soft Gelatin capsules, thus the manufacturers also consider processing technology data in this process as well. And general process technology data explains that the wedge control temperature is needed to be around 37 -50 degree Celsius. About the temperature of inner packed material, it should be 40 degree Celsius followed by the Gelatin liquid temperature of 55 to 65 degree Celsius and the relative humidity of 30 to 40%.

Conclusively, it can be said that by following actual processing technology data the manufacturers are producing more effective and safe to use capsules for consumers.

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Know More about Capsule Manufacturing

In terms of manufacturing, capsule manufacturing is found more simple and easier than producing tablets. Capsules are made to be swallowed and breakdown by body easily. There are many more aspects that are considered by leading contract manufacturers for capsule manufacturing. Such aspects are:

Right quantity of ingredients

Right quantity of ingredients is a major concern for manufacturing of capsules. The manufacturers always consider the uniformity of content which is an important pharmaceutical analysis technique meant for the manufacturing of hard shell based capsules.

Features of gelatin

When it is to produce hard capsules, the manufacturers check the essential features of gelatin. In the application, the gelatin should come with a workable viscosity, a suitable setting point, a suitable film forming power, clarity etc.

Resistance & elasticity

Once the hard capsules are dried, they are required to exhibit composition like Gelatin between 80 and 85 percent, moisture of 15 percent and other excipients 0 to 5 percent. Along with it, it is also important to check the elasticity and resistance of capsules. And it is the physical characteristics of gelatin that explains the solubility, resistance and elasticity of hard capsules.