Rushing A Product to Market Can Yield Some Expensive and Painful Lessons When scaling a new drug formulation from development into manufacturing, there is often a reality check regarding process scale-up and formulation performance at production levels. Problems with capping/lamination and sticking/picking are often first realized when a formulation is introduced to a level of

The number one reason for tablet press failure is lack of tooling cleanliness. Dirty tooling may cause binding, which can damage tooling and tablet presses. Keeping tools clean can decrease premature tool wear and allow lubrication to be more effective as well as reduce the possibility of product cross-contamination. Additionally, clean tooling is critical to

Tablet compression tooling is a considerable investment for your company. Quality tooling and a proper maintenance program are integral to producing high-quality tablets efficiently. Polishing and refurbishing are two of the surest and most inexpensive ways to maintain tablet quality, reduce operating costs, and yield the full ROI potential of your tooling. Punches and dies will

This article originally ran in the October 2018 issue of European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer magazine. By Jonathan Gaik, Natoli Scientific Tablet formulation development is a stylised process. Each formulator uses their own methodology. Some use the systematic Design of Experiments (DOE) approach, some test one variable at a time, and many use a combination of the two. However, all

Sticking and picking are ubiquitous problems in tablet manufacturing and generally arise from either formulation or tablet design inadequacies. Sticking occurs when formulation granules stick to the face of the punch cup. Formulation sticking in the letters and characters of punch embossing is typically referred to as picking. Both result in tablet defects and lower

By Jonathan Gaik, Director, Natoli Scientific In the July/August issue of EPM magazine, I wrote that most challenges in the tableting process initiate with or can be traced back to powder flow. I mentioned in my article – “Go with the flow: The critical issue of powder flow in tablet production” – that conducting studies

This article originally ran in the July/August 2018 issue of European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer magazine. By Jonathan Gaik, Natoli Scientific The ideal active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is one that flows well, is stable, self-lubricates, compacts well and is not strain rate sensitive. While all the listed properties are important, the one that continues to be critical

The principal purpose for segment alignment is to allow the capsules to be separated reliably and rejoined accurately. To do this, the hole in the upper segment must be accurately lined up with the lower segment, and the segment surfaces must be parallel. Before Aligning Segments Before aligning segments, the lower segment is placed on

This post is an updated version of our original post on ultrasonic cleaning. Your tools are a major investment, keeping them clean and productive should be a priority. Ultrasonic cleaning has long been considered the most effective, nondestructive way to clean tools. In fact, the Tablet Specification Manual recommends using an ultrasonic cleaning process to

One of the surest and most inexpensive ways to maintain tablet quality and reduce tooling and operating cost is proper punch maintenance. Maintaining the quality of your punches helps to eliminate tablet defects such as picking, sticking, capping, lamination etc. Proper punch maintenance training helps to solve these issues while significantly reducing costs by increasing