Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. AnselвЂ™s Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems. Both hard gelatin capsules and tablets may become lodged in the esophagus, where the resulting localized high concentration of certain drugs (e.g., doxycycline, potassium chloride, indomethacin) may cause damage. Their rapid release may cause gastric irritation owing to the formation of a high drug concentration in localized areas.Д¦. Highly soluble salts (e.g., bromides, chlorides, and iodides) generally should not be dispensed in hard gelatin capsules.

Furthermore, it may be possible to avoid the cost of a granulation step by choosing encapsulation in lieu of tableting.ДҐ. This cost disadvantage diminishes as the cost of the active ingredient increases or when tablets must be coated. Generally, hard gelatin capsule products tend to be more costly to produce than tablets however, the relative cost-effectiveness of capsules and tablets must be judged on a case-by-case basis.Д¤. Filling equipment is slower than tableting, although that gap has narrowed in recent years with the advent of high-speed automatic-filling machines.ДЈ. From a manufacturerвЂ™s point of view, there is perhaps some disadvantage in the fact that the number of suppliers of shells is limited.Дў. Most likely, this assumption is derived from the fact that the gelatin shell rapidly dissolves and ruptures, which affords at least the potential for rapid release of the drug.ДЎ. Hard gelatin capsules often have been assumed to have better bioavailability than tablets. Some of the advantages of hard gelatin capsules as a dosage form include:ДЎ. This article focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of hard gelatin capsules as a dosage form. It is estimated that the utilization of hard gelatin capsules to prepare solid dosage forms exceeds that of soft gelatin capsules by about 10-fold. Most capsule products manufactured today are of the hard gelatin type. During the capsule filling unit operation, the body is filled with the medicament, followed by the insertion of the cap over the body. They are produced empty and are then filled in a separate operation. The body has slightly lower diameter than the cap and fits inside the cap.

A hard gelatin capsule shell consists of two pieces: a cap and a body.

Gelatin edge blending