Virtual Show: New technologies for solid dosage forms from Syntegon

From May 7 to 13, Syntegon Technology showcases its long-standing processing and packaging expertise for solid dosage forms at the Virtual Show. The new Sepion coater series, which is available in six sizes, marks the beginning of the novelties. Visitors to the virtual event can also experience continuous production from powders to the finished capsule with the specially developed X-key principle. In addition, the new “Automated Process Development” (APD) tool automatically calculates optimal parameters for capsule filling processes in very short times.

New coater series combines experience and innovation
Syntegon presents its new Sepion coater series for the first time. “We have combined decades of experience of the former Manesty product brand with the expertise in tablet coating and process technology of the Hüttlin product brand. By introducing the new Sepion series we can offer our customers an ideal combination of experience and innovation”, says Fritz-Martin Scholz, product manager at Syntegon. The state-of-the-art equipment for tablet coating enables closed material handling during filling, sampling and emptying. This makes the Sepion coaters suited for the coating of tablets with highly potent active ingredients, as well as for sugar coating. The optimized drum geometry with its sophisticated spraying system offers better guidance of the process air and shorter processing times. Moreover, the coaters feature an automatically adjustable spray arm and ensure high flexibility from 10 to 100 percent batch size. The fully equipped Sepion coaters are available in six sizes: from 175 and 250 to 350 and 500 to 750 and 1,000 liters capacity.

Continuous Manufacturing with the X-key approach
The continuous production of oral solid dosage forms is an unbroken trend. The Xelum production platform and Xelum R&D unit are based on the same principle developed by the Hüttlin product brand: as opposed to the common complex mass flow rate, excipients and active ingredients are dosed as a discrete mass. This makes it possible to dose even smallest amounts of APIs of less than one percent reliably. At the Virtual Show, visitors can find out how the Xelum R&D doses, mixes and granulates individual packages, so-called X-keys. The packages continuously run through the process chain and are pneumatically transported to the GKF 720 capsule filling machine and filled into capsules.

APD: optimum parameters for capsule filling processes
As another highlight, Syntegon Technology presents a number of new software features, including the “Automated Process Development” (APD) tool to determine optimum parameters for capsule filling processes. “While such manual evaluations used to take days or even weeks, the APD tool not only achieves faster but also more precise results”, Matthias Mössinger, Product Manager at Syntegon Technology, explains. By determining correlations between parameters critical to material, quality and processes, the tool ensures a better understanding of the process – which in turn has a positive effect on product quality. “Investments in tools such as the APD during the process development phase will definitely be rewarded in commercial production”, Mössinger says. In the future, the APD tool will be available for both capsules and tablets.

Line competence for solid pharmaceuticals
Additionally, Syntegon offers customers machines and lines for secondary packaging of their solid pharmaceuticals, as well as comprehensive Track & Trace solutions. The portfolio is rounded off by comprehensive services along the entire machine life cycle.

About Syntegon Technology
Syntegon Technology is a leading global process and packaging technology provider. Formerly the packaging division of the Bosch Group, the company, headquartered in Waiblingen (Germany), has been offering complete solutions for the pharmaceutical and food industries for over 50 years. More than 6,100 employees at 30 locations in more than 15 countries generated a total revenue of 1.3 billion euros in 2019. The portfolio of intelligent and sustainable technologies includes stand-alone machines, as well as complete systems and services. Fields of application in the pharmaceutical industry are the production, processing, filling, inspection and packaging of liquid and solid pharmaceuticals (e.g. syringes and capsules). In the food industry, the portfolio includes process technology for confectionery as well as packaging solutions for dry foods (e.g. bars, bakery products and coffee), frozen foods and dairy products.