Researchers have performed various scientific studies in high-efficiency coating in solid-dosage manufacturing. These studies
provide guidance for tablet-coater process improvements (1–6).
Scale-up effects on tablet abrasion during pan coating.
A 2006 study investigated the influence of production scale-up on tablet abrasion in a pan coater (1). It examined how batch
size during scale-up can affect the abrasion and edge-splitting of flat-faced tablets. The researchers looked at the weight
loss of white tracer tablets mixed with a batch of blue-coated tablets in a laboratory-scale pan coater and a pilot-scale
pan coater as a function of different pan speeds and mixing times. They observed that increasing batch size caused a decrease
in weight loss due to less damage of the tablet edges. The researchers determined that a higher number of tablet impacts at
the pan wall at laboratory scale compared with pilot scale might account for this outcome. This effect runs counter to the
common belief that increasing batch size in scale-up leads to a higher abrasion or tablet damaging (1).
Raman spectroscopy as a PAT tool in active coating.
Active coating is a film-coating application in which the drug's active ingredient is included in the coating layer. It presents
manufacturers with the challenge of achieving the right amount of coating and uniformity on each dosage. To ensure the quality
of each dosage, manufacturers can benefit by developing process analytical technology (PAT) that can monitor the coating process
and detect the end of the coating cycle. In one study, researchers performed coating experiments using the drug diprophylline
(2). They used a pan coater to coat placebo tablets and tablets containing diprophylline. During active coating, researchers
recorded Raman spectra in-line. These spectral measurements were compared with the average weight gain and the amount of coated
active ingredient at each point in time (2).
The chemometric model they created using Raman spectroscopy was tested by monitoring more coated batches. The research team
also studied the effects of pan-rotation speed and working distance on the Raman signal and studied the resulting effect of
the chemometric model. Using Raman spectroscopy as a PAT tool, they were able to determine the amount of active ingredient
in the film when coated onto cores of placebo tablets and tablets containing the same active ingredient. Researchers also
determined that this method can be used when changing the process parameters and measurement conditions within a restricted
range, making it an appropriate PAT tool (2).
Comparing laboratory and production coating spray gun for scale-up.
In a scale-up study, researchers investigated a laboratory spray gun and a product spray gun (3). They analyzed the influence
of the atomization air pressure, spray-gun-to-tablet-bed distance, polymer-solution viscosity, and spray rate. The spray guns
were compared based on spray width and height, droplet size and velocity, and spray density. Researchers measured spray density,
droplet size, and velocity with a phase Doppler particle analyzer (3). This study gave the investigators basic information
for the scale-up settings from the laboratory and production spray guns. Both were comparable with respect to droplet size
and velocity, and the scale-up of droplet size can be performed by an adjustment of the atomization air pressure. Scale-up
of droplet velocity can be achieved by adjusting the spray gun to tablet-bed distance. The result of the study was that the
researchers' statistical model and surface plots were powerful and convenient tools for scaling up spray settings if the spray
gun was changed from a laboratory spray gun to a production spray gun (3).