Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/446555
16 January 2015 Tablets & Capsules Combinations and self-dosing As the number of high-volume blockbusters fades and pipelines dry up, pharmaceutical manufacturers are turning to new delivery methods and combination products to extend the life of their brands. Last year, Capsugel introduced a "sprinkle" version of its Coni-Snap capsules for use by patients who have difficulty swallowing. To access the fill—usually beads or multipartculates—patients pull the capsule apart and sprinkle the contents over a soft food. Catalent offers OptiGel Mini, a technology for making very small, seamless softgels. They're made at the company's site in Japan, where consumers prefer small dosage forms. Most are packaged in sachets or foil pouches, allowing consumers to add them to food and to manage the dose. To satisfy stronger demand for combination fills, Bosch offers equipment that fills as many as three different types of materials, including powders, pellets, granules, tablets, and liquids, into a single capsule. Opitz said micro-tablets are an especially popular format. "Twenty years ago, there were a lot of new chemical entities launched, and line extensions were not a focus for Big Pharma." Today, however, as new APIs become less common, the strategy has changed. "They're now reformulating their old APIs or combining them, and since a lot of APIs are incompatible with each other they must be conveyed using a different kind of formulation." T&C References 1. He, Xiongwei et al. Multi-compartment hard capsule and potential applications. Poster W5133, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, November 2-6, 2014. 2. He, Xiongwei et al. DRcaps capsules banding for improved acid resistance. Poster W5132, AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, November 2-6, 2014. 3. Youngster, Ilan et al. Oral, capsulized, frozen fecal microbiota transplantation for relapsing clostridium difficile infection. JAMA, 2014 Nov 5;312(17): 1772-8. 4. Straub, Hugues et al. Hard capsules for vaginal applications. Poster R6248, AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, November 2-6, 2014. 5. Tardy, Claire et al. Capsules for dry powder inhalation—Performance evaluation of different capsules with various inhalation devices. Poster T3174, AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, November 2-6, 2014. 6. Dharap, Sonia et al. Understanding intra- and inter-individual differences in capsule puncture following actuation of a dry powder inhaler. Poster T3175, AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, November 2-6, 2014. 7. Diez, Fernando et al. Influence of temperature on capsule puncture performance. Poster T3176, AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, November 2-6, 2014. 8. Jones, Brian et al. The puncture properties and shedding of particles of capsules in dry powder inhalers, effect of capsule type and moisture content. Poster T3178, AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, November 2-6, 2014. 9. Yamashita, Shinji. Ambition or just a dream? History and future perspective for oral delivery of biologics. Presentation at AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, November 2-6, 2014. Modular. Scalable. Future-proof. Xtend TM Dissolution Line Ready for tomorrow. Today. Respond flexibly to changing workloads and simplify method transfer from R&D to QC with the new Xtend TM Dissolution Line. Standardized modules such as dissolution bath, pump, filter station, and sample manager can be flexibly combined or extended anytime – from manual to semi- and fully automated systems. www.sotax.com