In the pharmaceutical industry, the three common granulation processes for solid dosage form production are wet granulation, dry granulation (roller compaction) and direct blending. Yet despite being well-established techniques, each has drawbacks. Moisture-activated dry granulation (MADG) was developed in response to the difficulties experienced with wet granulation in terms of endpoint, drying and milling, and offers an efficient, cost-effective process that does not require a drying step.
Manufacturers are increasingly aware of processing steps, production costs, safety issues and time-to-market, not withstanding the absolute requirement for quality and reliability. In tablet manufacture, direct compression has always been the traditional first choice, followed by granulation, which adds time and cost to the process (and formula).
MADG is a growing but, as yet, not widely adopted process. Because minimal moisture is needed in this speciality granulation process, no drying time is required, significantly shortening the processing time. It is a simple and innovative process in which granules are created with water and a granulating binder, as in wet granulation, but they are not heat-dried or milled, which also helps to minimise endpoint sensitivity.
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