Colorcon, a leader in the development and supply of film coating systems and excipients, has expanded its technical service capabilities with a new Containment Suite located in its Global Headquarters in Harleysville, PA, USA.
 
Alongside big pharma, there are a growing number of virtual or small companies developing drug products that don’t necessarily have their own lab capabilities or resources to progress their products into the clinic. The Containment Suite provides the capability to develop prototype tablet or capsule dosage forms for clients when active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) quantity is limited and/or the API potency requires a higher level of protection. The lab utilizes mobile isolation modules to offer maximum process flexibility.
 
Kurt Fegely, managing director, Colorcon Americas, stated, “Investing in this facility demonstrates Colorcon’s continued commitment to supporting pharmaceutical development in North America, reducing our customer’s time to market and reflects our dedication to providing unparalleled products and services. We can now offer a complete cycle starting from the customer’s API, all the way to a finished coated dosage form within our facilities and provide prototypes ready for customer evaluation.” 
 
Charlie Cunningham, technical director, explained, “Many of our customers, especially in early development phase, work with very small quantities of active ingredients, which can have unknown safety profiles and can also be extremely costly and limited in availability. Our investment in the best equipment enables us to produce tablets and capsules with milligrams of active product in the safest of conditions.”
 
With its understanding of excipients and coatings, Colorcon can support early phase screening activity, providing both big pharma and virtual or small companies access to formulators, equipment, and services as well as generating non-GMP prototypes of the dosage form for subsequent clinical supply.
 
This expanded facility with new capabilities and professional expertise means that Colorcon can help developers as they manage the challenges they face today and in the years ahead.