Isopak's latest addition aims to fill an unmet need for hospitals, pharmacies, research laboratories and quality control departments by providing an economical version to a laborious process that is time consuming, greatly limiting production capacity.
The machinery, called the Minicap 100, utilises a 100-hole tray and has an hourly output of up to 2,500 capsules, depending on the application.
Most existing capsule fillers cannot process sticky or dry ingredients usually found in natural medicines, but the Minicap 100, manufactured by Dott Bonapace, can also handle difficult products such as herbs, spices, homeopathic and alternative remedies.
"The alternative treatment market is continuing to grow, so more and more companies are looking for capsule filling solutions, specific to their application," said managing director of Isopak, Robin Davies.
"The Minicap 100 is the only machine available that offers versatility at a low price, and one of the few capsule fillers that can process natural substances," he added.
Isopak, an equipment supplier to the pharmaceutical industry, goes up against such manufacturers as Italian pharmaceutical dosing and packaging equipment manufacturer, MG2, which currently have two dosing machines for hard gelatine capsules, suitable for powder and tablet, pellets and tablet, or micro-tablets and tablet.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing supplier, Bosch, also provide capsule fillers for dosing of liquids, powders, tablets or pellets into hard gelatin or gelatin-free capsules.
They are available in a wide range of speeds, and two different series of products, the GKF and DMW series.
The Minicap has already proved popular particularly with those producing herbal and alternative therapy products proving cost effective for small runs.
Existing customers include a pharmaceutical company, who are carrying out drug development and clinical trials on its Minicap 100.
In addition, a UK based alternative treatment centre has installed a Minicap 100 to enable pharmacies to make up herbal prescriptions in store.