Findings from University of Cambridge Yields New Data on Pharmaceutical Research and Biopharmaceuticals

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By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Drug Week -- New research on Drugs and Therapies is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating in Cambridge, United Kingdom, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "In this study, terahertz pulsed imaging (TPI) was employed to investigate the effect of the coating equipment (fluid bed and drum coater) on the structure of the applied film coating and subsequent dissolution behaviour. Six tablets from every batch coated with the same delayed release coating formulation under recommended process conditions (provided by the coating polymer supplier) were mapped individually to evaluate the effect of coating device on critical coating characteristics (coating thickness, surface morphology and density)."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Cambridge, "Although the traditional coating quality parameter (weight gain) indicated no differences between both batches, TPI analysis revealed a lower mean coating thickness (Cr) for tablets coated in the drum coater compared to fluid bed coated tablets (p < 0.05). Moreover, drum coated tablets showed a more pronounced CT variation between the two sides and the centre band of the biconvex tablets, with the cr around the centre band being 22.5% thinner than the top and bottom sides for the drum coated tablets and 12.5% thinner for fluid bed coated tablets. The TPI analysis suggested a denser coating for the drum coated tablets. Dissolution testing confirmed that the film coating density, was the drug release governing factor, with faster drug release for tablets coated in the fluid bed coater (98 +/- 4% after 6 h) compared to drum coated tablets (72 +/- 6% after 6 h)."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Overall, TPI investigation revealed substantial differences in the applied film coating quality between tablets coated in the two coaters, which in turn correlated with the subsequent dissolution performance."

For more information on this research see: Evaluating the effect of coating equipment on tablet film quality using terahertz pulsed imaging. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2013;85(3):1095-1102. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Bv, PO Box 211, 1000 AeAmsterdam, Netherlands. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics -www.elsevier.com/wps/product/cws_home/600120)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting M. Haaser, University of Cambridge, Dept. of Chem Engn & Biotechnol, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Additional authors for this research includeK. Naelapaa, K.C. Gordon, M. Pepper, J. Rantanen, C.J. Strachan, P.F. Taday, J.A. Zeitler and T. Rades (see also Drugs and Therapies).