Controlled Release of Active Ingredients

Improve the functionality of your product through controlled release!

Controlled release of active ingredients is a key task for the formulation of pharmaceutical dosage forms. In addition to bioavailability, the release of the active ingredient from the tablet or active ingredient pellets determines its concentration in the blood. The properties of the polymer film, the pH-dependent solubility, the film thickness or the defined porosity are just some of the adjustable parameters to achieve the desired reproducible release kinetics. The key to success lies in the right coating process. For demanding solutions, Wurster coating in the fluid bed has established itself here.

Functional active or auxiliary substances are now also used in other branches of industry. As early as the 1990s, detergent and cleaning agent manufacturers started initial trials with fluid bed coating processes for the introduction of dishwasher tabs, in order to release individual components of the tabs at the right time. For example, a water-soluble component was coated in such a way that the contents did not dissolve for more than an hour in the aqueous environment. This functionality was a sensation at the time. The demands on the film are high. Wurster coating, a bottom-spray process with a Wurster tube, ensures an extremely uniform coating with defined particle guidance in the process chamber. The product particles are guided past the nozzle by a directed flow of the process gas and are wetted by the coating solutions atomized into extremely fine droplets and dried off immediately. Thus, with each new passage past the nozzle, the film becomes denser and thicker. Functionality is determined by the solubility properties of the polymers. Here, pH, hydrophobicity, etc. are decisive.

For thermal release, the food industry in particular relies on hardened fats. The melted fats enable rapid application by means of lipid/hot melt coating. Coated salt or fruit acids thus receive a protective hydrophobic coating. Interactions with moisture or the environment are prevented. Fast food chains have been using this effect for some time in frozen meat products such as burger patties. The salt would change the meat texture. However, due to the fat coating, it is only released during frying.

Whether aqueous, organic-based coating solutions, fats or melts, at the Glatt Technology Center in Weimar, we work with you to determine the optimum process conditions for your product in feasibility trials for product development. Various laboratory facilities and comprehensive analytical equipment are available for this purpose. On our pilot plants, we optimize the process and scale it up reliably to a stable and economical production scale. The results from this form the basis for the design and construction as well as the erection of your fluid bed or spouted bed plant, tailored to your requirements. As an alternative to our own process technology, we offer you the outsourcing of your production by means of contract manufacturing at Glatt.