Thomas isn’t just here to supply pharmaceutical coating equipment of stunning quality and efficiency. We’re also here to be your competitive advantage in the tablet coating industry. That means recommending the best materials and optimal processes for your production.
There Are Many Film Coated Tablet Advantages
Why do we coat tablets? There’s no single or simple answer. The first tablet coatings go back to ancient Egypt when they would use honey or other sweet ingredients to make their medicines easier to ingest. Today, we still follow that same basic principle. The coating makes the drug or medicine more effective, and as medication has become more complex, so have the coatings and their purposes. There are a litany of reasons you would want to coat your tablets:
- Adding durability during packaging, shipping and transportation to protect its shelf life.
- Marketing requirements for product and doseage identification.
- Masking the taste or odor of a medication to make it more palatable.
- Protecting the dosage from possible contamination or degradation from outside effects.
- Modifying the release of the drug to occur slowly or over time with a sustained release.
- Making sure the medication survives the stomach acid to get to the small intestine and other organs.
- Protects the stomach from the effects of potent compounds that may cause irritation.
- Allows for incorporating two different drugs that should only be combined once inside the human body.
And this is just a basic list of the functions of tablet coatings. What some people outside the industry might not understand is that the tablet coating is part of the medication process. It plays a role just like the ingredients of the drug itself. This is why it matters so much to select the right coating for your tablet.
Types of Coating Materials for Tablets
There are active drug coatings, sugar coatings, aqueous film coatings, organic solvent film coatings, enteric coatings,, and others. They all coat the surface of the tablet differently and affect the end result of the medication in different ways. Once you’ve settled on the right coating for your product, you want a spray coating process that is uniform across tablets, consistent across batches, and efficient throughout production. Our Accela-Cota PRO and FLEX line of coaters deliver performance you can trust whether you’re still in research & development or ready for large scale production.
Curious about how the different types of tablet coating machines affect your production? Let’s take a closer look with this past blog.
Put simply: the right coating means better performance for your medication. Better performance and end results for the patient means higher tablet sales for your business. The coating isn’t the only crucial part of your product, but it’s an essential part of its potential future success.
Let’s Look at an Example: Enteric Coated Tablets
Why do you need to worry so much about selecting the right tablet coating? The two-sided advantages of enteric coatings illustrate this importance. Enteric coating is a polymer applied to oral medication. It protects the drug from stomach acid and ensures the full effect is delivered to the intended destination.
That sounds integral to the process right? Well, that’s not all enteric coating does. It also protects the stomach lining. If released in the stomach, there are certain medications that pose a risk of damaging the inner walls of the stomach. This could lead to stomach ulcers, bleeding, and injuries to the GI tract without the proper protection. So, by applying the correct coating, you’re ensuring the effectiveness of your drug and well-being of the patient taking it at the same time.
Creating the Final Film Coated Tablet Product
We’ve shown the importance of the tablet coating and we’ve talked about how well Thomas’s tablet coaters perform their functions. The last piece of the puzzle is how you select the right coating for the right medication. This is where the true value of the Thomas Processing team comes into play. We have over 60 years of experience in the tablet coating industry.
We’ve seen methods change over time and the way new technology has transformed the industry. Customers rely on our expertise to make their lives and work easier. We can recommend the optimal coating solution and the ideal solution prep systems for your process. To learn more about what coating makes the most sense for your tablets, reach out to Thomas today. We’re ready to help you optimize your production and add innovation to your organization.
