Alpharma invests in spheronisation

Alpharma, a leading UK manufacturer of solid dose generic medicines, has recently purchased a 'spheronizer' to manufacture spheres, which are then encapsulated. Spheronisation is a 2-part process. A malleable wet product mass is placed into an extruder then forced through perforations to make spaghetti-like material or extrudates. The extrudates are then placed into the spheronizer, which breaks them into spheroids.

The extrudates will change to a desired shape with increased time in the spheronizer - from cylinder, rounded ends, dumb bells, ellipsoids to spheroids - and vary in size from 0.7mm to 3.0mm. The spheroids are then dried and screened to remove any that are under or over the required size.

'The spheronizer is becoming a useful manufacturing tool in the pharmaceutical industry as it can help simplify manufacturing procedures, reduce costs and allows a more accurate dispersion of ingredients when filling capsules,' Alpharma says.

Based in Barnstaple in the UK, Alpharma has made substantial investment in its packaging capabilities, including a number of new blisterpacking lines at a cost of £1.1m each. The company has carried out research that shows that the majority of patients prefer the convenience and ease of opening of blisterpacks rather than recloseable containers. Its key objective is to fulfil its 'accessible medicine' initiative in providing medicines that are available, understandable and affordable. As part of this initiative, Alpharma has just launched Terazosin, its treatment of mild to moderate hypertension and symptomatic treatment of urinary obstruction, in the updated packaging.