Seppic to add colour to BASF's Kollicoat
of Air Liquide Healthcare, have embarked on a strategic cooperation
to jointly develop and market coating systems for film coating of
tablets in the drug industry.
The firms said that, through this collaboration, a new range of coloured Sepifilm coating systems will be developed, based on BASF's instant-release Kollicoat polymers, that will be tailored to individual customers' needs.
This collaboration cements BASF's position in the pharmaceutical film coating market, which is valued at around €200 million and is growing at 5 to 6 per cent a year.
The Kollicoat instant-release (IR) range was first introduced in 2003, with the lead product, the first of a new generation of excipients based on polyvinyl alcohol-polyethylene glycol copolymer.
Kollicoat IR's major advantage compared to hypromellose and other instant release film-coatings is its low viscosity - even at polymer concentrations of up to 25 per cent - which reduces the spray time significantly. This means that companies can increase coating capacity without investing in new coating equipment. The resulting films have a very high flexibility, no tackiness and a smooth surface even without additional plasticiser.
The IR range has since been expanded to include Kollicoat IR White, which has the same properties as Kollicoat IR but has a different colour (and can function as a base for colorants) and Kollicoat Protect, which adds in moisture protection and taste-masking properties. The new agreement with Seppic should result in coatings that combine these advantages with enhanced colour functions for branding and presentation purposes.
Coating systems are typically mixtures of polymers, plasticisers, colouring agents and other excipients, which can be stirred into water or an organic solvent to produce a dispersion for the film coating of solid oral dosage forms such as tablets.
Financial details were not disclosed.
