Compared with traditional gelatin capsules, HPMC capsules have the following 3 advantages.
Less affected by temperature and humidity: HPMC capsules and gelatin capsules are subjected to short-term stability tests. When placed in different humidity environments, HPMC capsules have lower water content than gelatin capsules. Under the conditions of RH10%~60%, HPMC capsules The water content is 2%~7%, while the water content of the gelatin capsule is 13%~16% under the same humidity condition, and the interaction between the hygroscopic drug and the capsule will cause more drug powder to adhere to the gelatin capsule. on the inner wall, so that the drug cannot be fully utilized. Due to its low water content, HPMC capsules are more suitable for loading hygroscopic drugs and are suitable for dry powder inhalants. Compared to HPMC capsules, gelatin capsules are more prone to embrittlement at lower humidity.
Small interaction with the contents: There are many research results showing that gelatin protein is prone to chemical reaction with aldehydes, resulting in cross-linking of gelatin protein, and gelatin protein itself will also produce cross-linking effect under high temperature or high humidity conditions. The generation of combined effects adversely affects its solubility and may reduce the bioavailability of the drug. However, when HPMC capsules were exposed to temperature and humidity conditions similar to gelatin capsules, similar reactions did not occur. Moreover, HPMC capsules are not easy to cross-link with aldehyde-containing drugs, and have less interaction with excipients, so they can be widely used in various drugs.
No disease of animal origin and no offense to religious beliefs: Gelatin capsules are mainly made from the skins and bones of pigs, cattle and sheep. Due to the outbreak of infectious diseases such as "mad cow disease" and "foot-and-mouth disease" in many countries in the world in the past few years, people have serious mistrust of beef and related by-products including gelatin. And HPMC capsules will not have such an effect, because it does not contain these constituents and is suitable for more people.