Film Coating & Anti-Capping in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Solving capping issues with L-HPC®

What is L-HPC®?
It is a low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose developed by Shin-Etsu in the 1970s as a multifunctional excipient; it can be used as a binder and disintegrant in solid dosage forms formulations. Due to its non- ionic nature and low water activity/ hygroscopicity, L-HPC® exhibits not only a good compatibility with a wide range of active substances but also good stability.

One of the specific benefits of L-HPC® is to prevent ‘capping’ in immediate release formulations. Capping is a key problem in the tablet manufacturing process as the damage invariably leads to production batch rejection. L-HPC® achieves this by reducing the residual die-wall force as well as the ejection force during compression.

Easy coating with Tylopur®

Film coating is a common practice in tablet manufacturing that can be used to improve the organoleptic properties of the tablet. For example, it improves the intake of tablets by facilitating oral dosage swallowability. Film coating additionally provides an excellent finish to the appearance of the product.

Shin-Etsu offers HPMC (hypromellose) [Tylopur®] as an easy-to-use film coating agent. This material is suitable for many applications in the design of film-coated tablet formulations. Tylopur® achieves this versatility as it is a high performing inert cellulose derivative.

High viscous HPMC is also available under the brand name Tylopur®, designed for sustaining the API release by forming a matrix.