Roquette forms new coating alliance

French ingredients supplier Roquette and the german company Biogrund have formed a European partnership for the development of a new ready-to-use film coating platform for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.

Film coatings offer the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sectors aesthetic and functional benefits and the new film coating platform being developed by Roquette and Biogrund uses Roquette's new starch-based film coating polymer.

Roquette has developed the LYCOAT range of starch-based polymers to answer the market demand for improved organoleptic properties, ease of solubilisation and process efficiency. The range is the result of several years of r&d effort to convert the natural and bio-renewable material into a film-forming polymer.

The breakthrough has opened the way for film coatings that offer benefits for the user and manufacturer, notably a reduction in coating time and a high robustness under any process conditions.

Biogrund is a company specialising in the development of ready-to-use film coating formulations. It has recently expanded its manufacturing capacity in Huenstetten, Germany to meet growing demand.

Dr Xavier Parissaux, LYCOAT product manager at Roquette Pharma, said the new partnership with Biogrund will "significantly reduce the time to market" for the products.