Film Coating
A film coating is a thin polymer-based coat that is typically sprayed onto a solid pharmaceutical dosage form, such as a tablet,Film coating can impact both its appearance and its pharmacokinetics making it an essential process in making the final drug product.
The purpose of film coating includes aesthetic enhancement, increase of shelf life, taste-masking, moderating the release profile of the drug substance, etc. The thickness of the film is generally less than 100 microns.
Benefits of Film coating:
- Tablet coating masks the taste, odour, or colour of the drug. Tablet coating controls the release of the drug from the tablet Improvement of pharmaceutical elegance by the use of special colours and contrasting printing can also be obtained from tablet coating.
- It provides physical and chemical protection and protects the drug from the gastric environment of the stomach (acid-resistant enteric coating). Incorporate another drug or formula adjuvant in the coating to avoid chemical incompatibilities or to provide sequential drug release.