Capsugel Upgrades Facilties

Capsugel’s Dosage Form Solutions (DFS) business unit has upgraded and expanded three of its manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Europe. The multi-million dollar investments broaden the company’s global capabilities to handle hormonal as well as high-potent compounds for soft gelatin and liquid-fill hard capsules (LFHC), responding to a growing demand from its pharmaceutical and health and nutrition customers. The moves are intended to deepen the company’s finished dosage form capabilities as part of its Lipidex technology platform.

At the Ploermel facility in France, Capsugel increased containment capacity to handle hormonal as well as high-potent compounds in softgel manufacturing. Specific upgrades include a new, high precision dosing system and high-speed capsule-printing capability.

At the Livingston facility in the UK, the company added laboratory space, equipment and analytical scientists. A new CFS 1500 capsule filling and sealing machine, which incorporates proprietary Fusion technology, has been installed, and the proprietary lipid expert system has been incorporated into the team’s finished dosage form development process.

Capsugel commissioned and validated a new commercial scale liquid-fill encapsulation unit for pharmaceutical applications at its Greenwood facility in the U.S. The company has also begun the installation of commercial production capability for new solid lipid pellet (SLP) technology. SLP technology is currently being used on select customer development projects as a unique lipid-based formulation option for bioenhancement and other formulation issues.

“Investments at our soft gelatin and LFHC facilities reinforce Capsugel’s leadership in liquid-fill technologies and our commitment to offering customers a comprehensive range of services from formulation development to commercial manufacturing. Backed by decades of capsule engineering, specialized formulation know-how and global supply-chain expertise, customers can be assured of high quality encapsulated products using SGcaps and Licaps technology,” said Anthony Macci, senior vice president of Global Operations. “Our continued expansion and integration of our product development and manufacturing capabilities further ensures that customer projects find optimized solutions, fast.”