A softgel is an oral dosage form for medicine in the form of a specialized capsule. They consist of a shell, usually gelatin based, surrounding a liquid fill. Softgel shells are a combination of gelatin, water, opacifier and a plasticiser such as glycerin or sorbitol.
Softgels are produced in a process known as encapsulation using the Rotary Die Encapsulation process invented by Robert Pauli Scherer. The encapsulation process has been described as a form/fill/seal process. Two flat ribbons of shell material are manufactured on the machine and brought together on a twin set of rotating dies. The dies contain recesses in the desired size and shape, which cut out the ribbons into a two-dimensional shape, and form a seal around the outside. At the same time a pump delivers a precise dose of fill material through a nozzle incorporated into a filling wedge whose tip sits between the two ribbons in between two die pockets at the point of cut out. The wedge is heated to facilitate the sealing process. The wedge injection causes the two flat ribbons to expand into the die pockets, giving rise to the three-dimensional finished product. After encapsulation, the softgels are dried for two days to two weeks depending on the product.
Since the 1990s, manufacturers have been able to replace gelatin in the shell with other polymers based on, for example, starch and carrageenan.
Catalent Pharma Solutions is the current owner of the RPScherer technology. [1]
In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a mold that contains a negative impression of the intended shape. The metal is poured into the mold through a hollow channel called a sprue. The metal and mold are then cooled, and the metal part is extracted. Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods.
A tablet is a pharmaceutical oral dosage form or solid unit dosage form. Tablets may be defined as the solid unit dosage form of medication with suitable excipients. It comprises a mixture of active substances and excipients, usually in powder form, that are pressed or compacted into a solid dose. The main advantages of tablets are that they ensure a consistent dose of medicine that is easy to consume.
Marshmallow is a confectionery made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. This sugar confection is inspired by a medicinal confection made from Althaea officinalis, the marsh-mallow plant.
A gasket is a mechanical seal which fills the space between two or more mating surfaces, generally to prevent leakage from or into the joined objects while under compression. It is a deformable material that is used to create a static seal and maintain that seal under various operating conditions in a mechanical assembly.
A die is a specialized machine tool used in manufacturing industries to cut and/or form material to a desired shape or profile. Stamping dies are used with a press, as opposed to drawing dies and casting dies which are not. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create.
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex cross-sections; and to work materials that are brittle, because the material encounters only compressive and shear stresses. It also creates excellent surface finish and gives considerable freedom of form in the design process.
Microencapsulation is a process in which tiny particles or droplets are surrounded by a coating to give small capsules, with useful properties. In general, it is used to incorporate food ingredients, enzymes, cells or other materials on a micro metric scale. Microencapsulation can also be used to enclose solids, liquids, or gases inside a micrometric wall made of hard or soft soluble film, in order to reduce dosing frequency and prevent the degradation of pharmaceuticals.
An end mill is a type of milling cutter, a cutting tool used in industrial milling applications. They can have several end configurations: round (ball), tapered, or straight are a few popular types. They are most commonly used in "milling machines" that move a piece of material against the end mill to remove chips of the material to create a desired size or shape. It is distinguished from the drill bit in its application, geometry, and manufacture. While a drill bit can only cut in the axial direction, most milling bits can cut in the radial direction. Not all mills can cut axially; those designed to cut axially are known as end mills.
In the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, encapsulation refers to a range of dosage forms—techniques used to enclose medicines—in a relatively stable shell known as a capsule, allowing them to, for example, be taken orally or be used as suppositories. The two main types of capsules are:
In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is similar to the rolling of dough. Rolling is classified according to the temperature of the metal rolled. If the temperature of the metal is above its recrystallization temperature, then the process is known as hot rolling. If the temperature of the metal is below its recrystallization temperature, the process is known as cold rolling. In terms of usage, hot rolling processes more tonnage than any other manufacturing process, and cold rolling processes the most tonnage out of all cold working processes. Roll stands holding pairs of rolls are grouped together into rolling mills that can quickly process metal, typically steel, into products such as structural steel, bar stock, and rails. Most steel mills have rolling mill divisions that convert the semi-finished casting products into finished products.
A blister pack is any of several types of pre-formed plastic packaging used for small consumer goods, foods, and for pharmaceuticals.
Strides Pharma Science Limited is an Indian pharmaceutical company, headquartered at Bangalore in southern India. The company manufactures pharmaceutical products, over-the-counter drugs and nutraceuticals. Products include softgel capsules, hard-gel capsules, tablets and dry and wet injectables. Its softgel manufacturing capability consists of an annual capacity of 50,000 machine hours or about three billion softgel capsules. The company has 15 manufacturing sites in six countries and marketing presence in 50 countries. In the United States and Canadian markets, the company partners with generic companies to supply retail and hospital generics in injectable products and softgels. In European markets, it has long-term relationships for the development of projects and supply agreements with the European companies. In Australia and New Zealand, the company is engaged in manufacturing and supply of soft gels and value-added manufacturing. The company has development and supply agreements with South African companies. The company's stock trades on the Bombay Stock Exchange and on the National Stock Exchange of India.
A decorative box is a form of packaging that is generally more than just functional, but also intended to be decorative and artistic. Many such boxes are used for promotional packaging, both commercially and privately. Historical objects are usually called caskets if larger than a few inches in more than one dimension, with only smaller ones called boxes.
Quarter sawing or quartersawing is a woodworking process that produces quarter-sawn or quarter-cut boards in the rip cutting of logs into lumber. The resulting lumber can also be called radially-sawn or simply quartered. There is widespread confusion between the terms rift sawn and quarter sawn with the terms defined both with opposite meanings and as synonyms.
The Fourcault process is a method of manufacturing plate glass. First developed in Belgium by Émile Fourcault (1862–1919) during the early 1900s, the process was used globally. Fourcault is an example of a "vertical draw" process, in that the glass is drawn against gravity in an upward direction. Gravity forces influence parts of the process.
A vertical form fill sealing machine is a type of automated assembly-line product packaging system, commonly used in the packaging industry for food and many other products. Walter Zwoyer, the inventor of the technology, patented his idea for the VFFS machine in 1936 while working with the Henry Heide Candy Company. The machine constructs plastic bags and stand-up pouches out of a flat roll of film, fills them with product, and seals them. Both solids and liquids can be bagged.
Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass.
Capsugel is a company that manufactures and sells two-piece hard gelatin drug capsules. Capsugel also sells equipment for filling empty and liquid capsules, as well as equipment for sealing liquid capsules.
A nanocapsule is a nanoscale shell made from a nontoxic polymer. They are vesicular systems made of a polymeric membrane which encapsulates an inner liquid core at the nanoscale. Nanocapsules have many uses, including promising medical applications for drug delivery, food enhancement, nutraceuticals, and for self-healing materials. The benefits of encapsulation methods are for protection of these substances to protect in the adverse environment, for controlled release, and for precision targeting. Nanocapsules can potentially be used as MRI-guided nanorobots or nanobots, although challenges remain.
Catalent, Inc. is a multinational corporation headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey. It is a global provider of delivery technologies, development, drug manufacturing, biologics, gene therapies and consumer health products. It employs more than 14,000 people, including approximately 2,400 scientists and technicians. In fiscal year 2020, it generated over $3 billion in annual revenue.