Catalent, the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products, announced the launch of OptiGel DR technology for the formulation and manufacture of delayed/enteric release softgels. The technology allows softgel capsules to be formed by combining pectin, a naturally derived polysaccharide, with gelatin, eliminating the need for a separate capsule coating step.

Softgel capsules are widely used for delivering pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements, and are a preferred dosage form of consumers and patients, who find them easier to swallow. A delayed release profile offers many advantages, including protecting active ingredients that may be degraded by acid in the stomach and releasing those active ingredients directly in the intestines where they are absorbed, potentially enhancing bioavailability. OptiGel DR capsules can also help reduce gastric reflux effects, which are often associated with pungent ingredients such as fish or garlic oils. The OptiGel DR softgel technology eliminates the processing and performance challenges associated with conventionally-coated delayed release softgels, and has the potential to encapsulate a wide range of ingredients.

“Catalent has a long history in softgel innovation, stretching back more than 85 years, and this latest evolution of the technology allows innovators to design the most efficient products, and bring superior pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products to the marketplace,” commented Dr Aris Gennadios, President, Softgel and Oral Technologies, Catalent. “The technology we have developed allows the delayed release profile to be incorporated into the softgel capsule shell, broadening the applications, and making a separate capsule coating step unnecessary. This reduces time and yield loss and eliminates potential quality issues associated with coated softgels.”

Catalent’s site in St. Petersburg, Florida, is the first to offer the new OptiGel DR technology, with the capability being expanded to its other softgel manufacturing facilities in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan in the future.