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Manufacture of Solid

Dosage Forms
Tablets (1 of 2)

Leigh Don T. Villanueva, RPh


De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute
PH-PHR 316 A.Y. 2020-2021
Tablets
• Solid pharmaceutical dosage forms containing drug
substances with or without suitable diluents and have
been traditionally prepared by either compression, or
molding methods.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tablets
• Compressed tablets
• Believed to have been used first by John Wyeth and Brother of
Philadelphia.

• Molded tablets
• introduced to be used as hypodermic tablets for the extemporaneous
preparation of solutions for injection.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Advantages
MANUFACTURER
• Simplicity and economy of preparation
• Stable
• Convenience in packaging, shipping and dispensing

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Advantages
PATIENTS
• Accuracy of dosage
• Compactness
• Portability
• Blandness of taste
• Ease of administration

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablets
• COMPRESSED TABLETS (CT)
• Tablets are formed by compression and in the simplest
form, contain no special coating.
• Made up of:
• Powdered, crystalline, or granular materials alone or in
combination with binders, disintegrants, controlled-release
polymers, lubricants, diluents, and n many cases colorants.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet Compressed,
Coated Tablet
Coating
• Principle
• application of coating material to a moving bed of solids
with concurrent use of heated air to facilitate evaporation of
solvent

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Reasons for Coating
I. Therapy
A. Improve patient compliance
i) Avoid irritation of esophagus and stomach
ii) Avoid bad taste
B. Improve drug effectiveness
i. Avoid inactivation of drug in the stomach
ii. Prolong or improve dosing interval

II. Technology
A. Improve drug stability
i. Reduce influence of moisture/atmosphere
ii. Prolong shelf life
B. Avoid dust formation
PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)
Reasons for Coating

III. Marketing
A.Avoid bad taste
B.Improve product identity
C.Improve appearance and acceptability

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Requirements of Tablets to be coated
1. optimum convexity
2. sufficient hardness
3. minimal friability
4. rapid disintegration
5. dust-free

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Compressed, Coated Tablet
• Sugar-Coated Tablet (SCT)
• Compressed tablets surrounded by sugar coating.
• Such coating may be colored and are beneficial in covering
up drug substances possessing objectionable tastes or
odors and in protecting materials sensitive to oxidation.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Sugarcoating
• coating is water soluble and quickly dissolves after swallowing
• enhances the appearance of the compressed tablet and permit
imprinting manufacturing’s information
• provides a combination of insulation, taste masking, smoothing
the tablet core, coloring and modified release.
• Disadvantages:
• time and expertise requirement
• increased size, weight and shipping costs

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Steps in Sugarcoating
1. Sealing/Water proofing
• provides a moisture barrier and harden the tablet surface.
2. Subcoating
• causes a rapid buildup to round off the tablet edges.
3. Grossing/Smoothing
• smoothes out the subcoated surface and increases the tablet size to
predetermine dimension.
4. Coloring
• gives the tablet its color and finished size.
5. Polishing
• produces the characteristics gloss.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Materials Used in Sugarcoating
1. Sealing/Water proofing
• Shellac, Zine, Cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP), Polyvinylacetate
phthalate, Hyroxylpropylcellulose, Hyroxypropylmethylcellulose
2. Subcoating
• gum-based solution
3. Grossing/Smoothing
• syrup solution (60-70 % sugar)
• generally contains pigments, starch, gelatin, acacia or opacifier

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Materials Used in Sugarcoating
4. Coloring
• syrup solution (60-70 % sugar) containing colorant
• soluble dyes
• predispersed opacified lake suspension

5. Polishing
• beeswax, carnuba wax, candelila wax or hard paraffin wax

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet
• Film-Coated Tablets (FCT)
• These are compressed tablets that are covered with a thin layer or
film of a water-soluble material.
• Imparts the same general characteristics as sugar coating, with the
added advantage of a greatly reduced time period required for the
coating operation.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Film Coating
• Polymer is solubilized into solvent with plasticizers and
pigments tablet core.
• Usually spray process is employed
• Accela cota: perforated cylindrical drum providing high drying air
capacity
• Fluidized bed equipment: tablets are moving in a stream of air
passing through the perforated bottom of a cylindrical column;
requires very hard tablets (hardness > 20 N)

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Materials used in film coating
• Film formers, which may be enteric or nonenteric
• HPMC, Povidone, Na CMC, PEG, Acrylate Polymers
• Solvents
• water, ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, chloroform, acetone, methylene chloride
• Plasticizers
• castor oil, PG, glycerin, lower molecular weight (200-400 series), PEG, surfactants

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Materials used in film coating
• Colourants
• Opasray (opaque color concentrate) and Opadry (complete film coating concentrate)
• Opaquant-Extenders
• titanium dioxide, silicates, carbonates, oxides and hydroxides
• Miscellaneous coating solution components
• Flavors, sweeteners, surfactants, antioxidants, antimicrobials

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Film Coating VS Sugar Coating
Features Sugar Coating Film Coating
Appearance Rounded with high degree of Not as shiny as sugar coat
polish and retains contour
Weight increase 30-50% 2-3%
Logo or “break” lines Not possible possible
Other solid dosage forms Coating possible but little Very important in modified
importance release forms
Stages Multistage process Usually single stage
Batch coating time Eight hours or longer 1.5-2 hours
Functional coatings Not usually possible apart Easily adaptable for
from enteric coating controlled release.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet
• Enteric-Coated Tablets (ECT)
• Compressed tablets coated with substances that resist solution in
gastric fluid but disintegrate in the intestine.
• Enteric coatings can be used for tablets containing drug substances
that are inactivated or destroyed in the stomach, for those that irritate
the mucosa, or as a means of delayed release of the medication.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Problems in Coating
• Blistering
• detachment of film from the substrate
• Due to entrapment of gases in or underneath the film due to overheating during
spraying or at the end of the coating run
• Chipping
• film becomes chipped and dented, usually at the edges
• Due to a decrease in fluidizing air or speed of rotation of drum
• Cratering
• coating whereby volcanic-like craters appears exposing the surface
• Due to the coating solution penetrates the surface of the tablet, often at the crown
where the surface is more porous, causing localized disintegration of the core and
disruption of the coating

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Problems in Coating
• Picking
• isolated areas of film are pulled away from the surface when the tablet sticks together and
then part.
• Due to conditions similar to cratering producing an overly wet tablet bed where adjacent
tablets can stick together and then break apart
• Pitting
• pits occur in the surface of a tablet core without any visible disruption of the film coating.
• Due to a temperature of the tablet core greater than the melting point of the materials used in
the tablet formulation
• Blooming
• coating becomes dull immediately or after prolonged storage at high temperatures.
• due to collection on the surface of low molecular weight ingredients (usually plasticizers)
included in the coating formulation

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Problems in Coating
• Blushing
• whitish specks or haziness in the film.
• due to precipitated polymer exacerbated by the use of high coating
temperature at or above the thermal gelation temperature of the
polymers.
• Colour variation
• uneven color of the film.
• Due to alteration of the frequency and duration of appearance of
tablets in the spray zone or the size/shape of the spray zone

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Problems in Coating
• Infilling
• Indistinct intagliations
• Due to inability of foam (formed by air spraying of a polymer solution)
to break; foam droplets on the surface breakdown readily due to
attrition but the intagliations form a protected area allowing the foam
to accumulate and “set”
• Orange peel/Roughness
• film is rough and nonglossy
• Due to nadequate spreading of the coating solution before drying

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Problems in Coating
• Cracking/Splitting
• cracks across the crown of the tablet (cracking) or splits around the
edges of the tablet (Splitting)
• Due to internal stress in the film exceeds tensile strength of the film

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Defect Description Cause Remedy
Blistering The film becomes Caused by trapped Reduce inlet air
locally detached gas underneath the temperature
from the substrate film due to Cessation of the use
forming a blister overheating of hot air to dry tablet
Chipping Chipped and dented High degree of Increase film hardness
at the edges of the attrition associated by increasing the MW
tablet with the coating grade of the polymer
process
Cratering Volcano-like crater Inefficient drying or Increase the drying
appearance rate of coating air temperature and
solution application is decrease application
too high rate
Picking Some areas of film Same as cratering Same as cratering
pull away from the
surface

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Defect Definition Cause Remedy
Blooming Dulling of the coating Due to the collection Not using hot air to
on the surface of low dry the tablets at the
molecular weight end of the coating
ingredients included run, the decrease in
in the coating plasticizer.
formulation
Blushing Whitish specks or Precipitation of some Decrease the drying
haziness in the film polymers by the use air temperature
of high coating temp.
above the thermal
gelation temp of the
polymers
Infilling Same effect as Inability of a foam, addition of alcohol
bridging, logo or formed by air and usage of finer
monogram is filled spraying of a polymer spray nozzles
with solidified foam solution, to break.
structure
Mottling Uneven distribution of Mixing problem or Allow more spraying
tablet color spray zone problem time to distribute
PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP) evenly
Defect Definition Cause remedy
Orange peel Rough and non glossy Rapid drying Control evaporation
tablet rate of the solvent
system
Bridging Occurs when film Modify tablet surface
shrinks during drying to increase porosity
process

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)
PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)
Types of Tablet
• Multiple Compressed Tablets
• compressed tablets made by more than one compression cycle.
• this process is best used when separation of active ingredients is
needed for stability purposes, or if the mixing process is inadequate to
guarantee uniform distribution of two or more active ingredients.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


MCT
• Layered Tablets
• Prepared by compressing additional tablet granulation on a
previously compressed granulation. The operation may be
repeated to produce multi-layered tablets of two or three, or
more layers. Special tablet presses are required to make
layer tablets such as the Versa press (Stokes/Pennwalt).

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


MCT
• Press-Coated Tablets
• Also referred to as dry-coated, are prepared by feeding previously
compressed tablets into a special tableting machine and compressing
another granulation layer around the preformed tablets.
• They have all the advantages of compressed tablets (ie, slotting,
monogramming, speed of disintegration) while retaining the attributes
of SCT in masking the taste of the drug substance in the core tablets.
• Eg. Manesty drycota

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet
• Controlled-Release Tablets (CRT)
• Formulated to release the drug slowly over a prolonged period of time.
Hence, these dosage forms have been referred to as a prolonged-
release or sustained-release dosage forms as well.
• Three types:
• Those that respond to some physiological condition to release the drug (ECT)
• Those that release the drug in a relatively steady, controlled manner
• Those that combine combinations of mechanisms to release pulses of drug
(repeat-action tablets)

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


CRT
• Other names:
• Extended Release
• Sustained Release
• Prolonged Release
• Delayed Release
In the case of pulsatile tablets:
• Repeat Action
• Pulsatile Release
• Pulse Release

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet
• Tablets for Solution (CTS)
• Compressed tablets to be used for preparing solutions or imparting
given characteristics to solutions must be labelled to indicate that
they are not to be swallowed.
• Eg: Halazone Tablets for Solution; and Potassium Permanganate
Tablets for Solution.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet
• Effervescent Tablets
• Contain sodium bicarbonate and an organic acid such as tartaric or
citric, in addition to the drug substance.
• In the presence of water, these additives react, liberating carbon
dioxide that acts as a disintegrator and produces effervescence.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet
• Compressed Suppositories or Inserts
• Occasionally, vaginal suppositories, are prepared by compression.
Tablets for this use usually contain lactose as the diluent. In this case,
as well as for any tablet intended for administration other than by
swallowing, the label must indicate the manner in which it is to be
used.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet
• Buccal and Sublingual Tablets
• These are small, flat, oval tablets.
• Buccal (the space between the lip and gum in the mouth)
administration
• inserted into the buccal pouch which may dissolve or erode slowly; therefore,
they are formulated as compressed with sufficient pressure to give a hard tablet.
• Sublingual tablets (eg. Nitroglycerin, isoproterenol HCl, or erythrityl
tetranitrate)
• Placed under the tongue which dissolve rapidly and the drug substance are
absorbed readily.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet
• Molded Tablets or Tablet Triturates
• TT are usually made from moist material, using a triturate mold that
gives them the shape of cut sections of a cylinder.
• Must be completely and rapidly soluble
• Problem: failure to find a lubricant that is completely water-soluble.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Molded Tablet
• Dispensing Tablets (DT)
• provide a convenient quantity of potent drug that can be incorporated
readily into powders and liquids, thus circumventing the necessity to
weigh small quantities.
• Supplied primarily as a convenience for extemporaneous
compounding and should never be dispensed as a dosage form

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Molded Tablet
• Hypodermic Tablets (HT)
• Are soft, readily soluble tablets and originally were used for the
preparation of solutions to be injected.
• Since stable parenteral solutions are now available for most drug
substances, there is no justification for the use of hypodermic tablets
for injection.
• Disadvantage: Not sterile
• No HT ever have been recognized by the official compendia.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Manufacture of Tablets
Quality Attributes of Tablets
Pharmaceutically Biocompatible
Correct Dose
elegant ingredients

Controlled &
Acceptable by
reproducible
patient
release of API

Sufficient
Stable mechanical
strength

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Methods of Tablet Manufacture
Wet Granulation Dry Granulation Direct Compression
1. Milling 1. Milling 1. Milling
2. Mixing 2. Mixing 2. Mixing
3. Preparation of binder 3. Slugging 3. Compression
4. Mixing with binder 4. Screening
5. Coarse screening 5. Mixing with disintegrant
and lubricant
6. Drying 6. Compression
7. Screening
8. Mixing with disintegrant
and lubricant
9. Compression

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tablet Granulations
• Pharmaceutical process that converts a mixture of powders,
which have poor cohesion, into aggregates capable of
compaction

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)
PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)
Manufacture of Granules
1. Direct compression
2. Dry granulation
3. Wet granulation

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Direct Compression
• binding the powders together by compaction
• 2 operations: powder mixing and tabletting

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Direct Compression
• used for: • examples of compressible
1) soluble drugs - processed as diluents:
coarse particles § spray dried lactose, Sta-Rx 1500,
2) potent drugs present in a few Emdex, Celutab, Avicel
milligrams & can be mixed
with coarse excipient
particles • Examples of APIs
§ NaCl, NaBr, KCl

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PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP) 53
Dry Granulation
• Involves the compaction of the components of a tablet
formulation into slugs followed by milling (to produce granular
material) & screening (to separate the desired fraction), prior to
final compression into a tablet

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Dry Granulation
• used for: • Examples
1) drugs that do not compress § vitamins, aspirin
well after wet granulation
2) moisture & heat sensitive
drugs

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Wet Granulation
• involves the wet massing of
the powders, wet sizing or
milling, & drying.

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Fluid-bed Granulation
• Granules possess greater porosity and the granule surface is
covered by a film of binding agent

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Spray Drying
• method of producing a dry powder from a liquid or slurry by
rapidly drying with a hot gas

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Process Variables in Granulation
• Particle Size & Shape
• Surface Area
• Density
• Strength & Friability
• Flow Properties
• Compaction

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Wet Granulation
• granules are formed by binding the powders together with an
adhesive → solution, suspension, or slurry containing a binder,
which is usually added to the powder mixture
• end-point of massing process can often be determined by
inspection
• 100-800 um

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Wet Granulation
• the binder may be incorporated dry into the powder mix, & the
liquid may be added by itself
• length of time depends on the wetting properties of the powder
mixture and the granulating fluid & efficiency of the mixer

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Wet Granulation
• tablets may be made in the traditional manner
• conventional wet granulation process is labor intensive & time
consuming → considerable time is needed to distribute the
binder properly throughout the mass
• high material losses that can be incurred because of the
transfer stages

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Wet Granulation

Wet
Dry screening Weighing Mixing Granulation Drying
screening

Combining Addition of
Dry screening IPQC tests Tumbling Compression
goods & fines lubricant

IPQC tests Bulk Product FPQC tests Packaging

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Paracetamol Tablet (example)
• Paracetamol –
• Kollidon CL –
• Dicalcium Phosphate –
• Kollidon 90F –
• Ethanol –
• Magnesium stearate -

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tabletting Machine
Type Output Primary Use
Single – 200 tablets per minute • production of small batches of
punch aka tablets during formulation
eccentric development
press • during small-scale production
such as production for clinical
trials
Rotary press 10,000 tablets per • during scale-up in the latter
aka minute part of the formulation work
multistation • during large-scale production
press

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Types of Tablet Presses
Single Station Multi-station / Rotary
• Stokes F • Betapress
• 5,700 tab/hr • 16-23 stations
• Manesty F3 • 36,000-120,000 tab/hr
• 5,100 tab/hr • Double B
• Kilian KS • 27-45 stations
• 4,800 tab/hr • 45,000-200,000+ tab/hr

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PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP) 66
Components of a Tablet Press
1. Hopper
2. Dies
3. Punches
4. Cam Tracks
5. Feed Shoe
6. Upper & lower turrets
7. Die table

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Single Station Tablet Press

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Single Punch Tablet Press
• Compression is applied by the upper punch, making the single
punch machine a “stamping press

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Hopper
• for storing materials for compressing

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Feed Frame
• for distributing the materials into the die
• feed shoe

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Punches
• for compacting the materials within the die
• for shaping the tablet
• Upper Punch and Lower Punch
• Parts of the punch

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Punches
• may be scored &/or engraved with company names or symbols,
trade names, dosage strength, National Drug Code numbers

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Punches
• become worn and the cyclic application of stress can cause the
steel to fatigue & break
• punch tips are especially delicate and susceptible to damage if
the tips make contact with each other, the dies or the press
turret upon insertion or removal of the tools from the tablet
machine

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Die
• for controlling the size and shape of the tablet

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Cam Tracks
• for guiding the movement of the punches

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)
Sequence of Events in Tablet Compression: Single Punch and
Rotary Press

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Multi-station Rotary Press
• termed rotary because the head of the tablet machine that
holds the upper punches, dies, and lower punches in place
rotates
• as the head rotates, the punches are guided up & down by fixed
cam tracks

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Multi-station Rotary Press

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)
Auxiliary Equipment
• Granulation Feeding Device
• force granules into die cavity
• Tablet weight monitoring devices
• monitors force at each compression station
• Thomas Tablet Sentinel, Pharmakontroll and Killan control System-MC
• Tablet Deduster
• Remove excess powder
• Fette machine
• chills the compression components to allow the compression of low melting point
substance such as waxes

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Attributes of a Well-made Compressed Tablet
1. ability to withstand the rigors of production, packaging,
shipment, and dispensing
2. freedom from defects such as cracks, chipped edges,
discoloration, speckling, and contamination
3. reasonable chemical and physical stability during average
storage conditions
4. ability to release the medicament in a reproducible and
predicted manner

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Unit Operations

Particle Size
Mixing Granulation Drying
Reduction

Compression Coating Printing Packaging

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Dry Screening
• to break up agglomerates of the API & excipients
• to achieve drug and excipients of the same narrow particle size
range

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Dry Screening
• should be done first before weighing the actual raw materials
because there is loss of materials upon screening
• weigh an excess amount of the API & excipients prior to
screening

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tools for Dry Screening
• #40 sieve, Wooden working table, Plastic, Masking tape, 50- or
100-mL Erlenmeyer flask

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Weighing
• to accurately get the mass of the API & excipients
• add an excess amount of the API & excipients (10% each) to
compensate for the loss of material

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tools for Weighing
• Top loading balance, Pan, Scoops, Containers

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Mixing
• to incorporate the required amount of solvent
• to form aggregates of powder which in turn can be converted
to granules
• use the minimum quantity of granulating fluid and ensure that
it is well distributed → to minimize solute migration

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Materials for Mixing
• Sigma Blade Mixer

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Mixing
• granulating liquid forms bridges between particles & the tensile
strength of these bonds increases as the amount of liquid
added is increased
• the mass of powder should be merely moist rather than wet or
pasty → there is a limit to the amount of solvent that may be
employed

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Mixing
• endpoint of mixing → press a portion of the mass in the palm
of the hand → if the ball crumbles under moderate pressure,
the mixture is ready for the next stage in processing, the wet
screening
• if excess liquid is added, strings of material will be formed and
if the mix is too dry the mass will be sieved to powder and
granules will not be formed

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Wet Screening
• involves converting the moist mass into coarse, granular
aggregates by passage through a hammer mill or oscillating
granulator, equipped with screens having large perforations
• overly wet material dries slowly and forms hard aggregates,
which tend to turn to powder during subsequent dry milling

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tool for Wet Screening
• hammer mill or oscillating granulator
• no. 4 hand screen

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Drying
• to reduce the moisture content to an optimum level of
concentration within the granules
• the dry granules should be remixed before compression →
ensures that a random mix of enriched & depleted granules will
be fed to the tablet machines → to minimize solute migration

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Drying
• to reduce the moisture content to an optimum level of
concentration within the granules
• the dry granules should be remixed before compression →
ensures that a random mix of enriched & depleted granules will
be fed to the tablet machines → to minimize solute migration

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Drying
• dissolved material can migrate to the upper surface of the bed
of granules, as the solvent is only removed from the upper
surface of the bed on the tray
• granules may aggregate owing to bridge formation at the
points of contact of the granules

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Drying
• fluid-bed drier → keeps the individual granules separated
during drying → reduces the problems of aggregation &
intergranular solute migration → reduces the need for sieving
stage after drying

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tools for Drying
• oven (60 °C), trays, porcelain spatula, moisture balance

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Dry Screening
• breaks agglomerates of granules & removes the fine material,
which can then be recycled
• to deaggregate the granules and remix them after drying

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tool for Dry Screening
• Mesh 20 Screen

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Re-granulation
• to re-granulate and re-screen the portion that passed through
mesh 40 screens

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Combine Goods & Fines
• fines comprise 10% of total weight of good granules
• good granules = the ones that pass through sieve 20 and are
retained on sieve 40
• fines = the ones that pass through sieve 40

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Drying
• removal of a liquid from a solid by evaporation

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Drying
• Tray and truck
• Horizontal vibrating conveyor
• Fluid bed dryer
• Spray dryer
• Flash dryer
• Microwave dryer

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Compression
• used to make tablets by compressing a formulation containing
a drug or drugs with excipients

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Compression
• Single Tablet Press
• Rotary Press

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Tumbling
• to tumble the solid mixture using a plastic bag

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Coating
• uniform deposition of a layer of material on or around a solid
dosage form

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Processes of Applying Coats
1. pan coating
2. dip coating
3. compression coating
• anhydrous operation wherein the powder or granular coating
material is compressed onto a tablet core of drug with a special
tablet press
4. air suspension coating
• top spray
• bottom spray / Wurster
• tangential spray

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Pan Coating
• Oldest form of pharmaceutical coating for manufacturing
small, coated particles or tablets.
• Pan coating is generally preferred to coat large tablets since
they are exposed to mechanical damage in other coating
operations.
• In this process, the particles or tablets are tumbled in a pan
which is rotated at an angle of usually 45 degrees Celsius.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Spray System
Airless (Hydraulic) Spray Air Spray
The coating liquid is pumped under pressure Liquid is pumped, under little or no pressure,
to a spray nozzle with a small orifice and to the nozzle and is subsequently atomized
atomization of the liquid occurs as it expands by means of a blast of compressed air that
rapidly on emerging from the nozzle. makes contact with the stream of liquid as it
passes through the nozzle aperture.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Air Suspension Coating
• is accomplished by suspending solid particles of core material
in an upward-moving stream of air, which may be heated or
cooled.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Dip Coating
• The substrate is dipped into a bath of the coating, which is
normally of a low viscosity to enable the coating to run back
into the bath as the substrate emerges. This process is
frequently used on porous substrates.

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Printing
• marking of a capsule or tablet surface for the purpose of
product identification

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Printing
• ink-based printing
• laser printing

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Packaging
• to protect the tablet from extreme conditions (moist & dry)
• to facilitate the shipping and distribution of the medicine until it
reaches the patient

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Packaging
• blister, foil, glass & plastic containers

PH-PHR 316: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (with Quality Assurance and cGMP)


Thank you for listening

Leigh Don T. Villanueva, RPh


De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute
PH-PHR 316 A.Y. 2020-2021

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