BioProgress develops enteric coating

Speciality pharma and healthcare company Bio-Progress, based in Cambridge in the UK, has developed a novel enteric tablet-coating system, EntWrap.

Initial technical trials of a new enabling technology have been successfully completed, the company says, which allows tablets to pass through the acidic stomach environment and into the intestines, where active ingredients can be more rapidly absorbed.

EntWrap is a novel enteric coating system that makes use of two proprietary patented BioProgress technologies: XGEL and TabWrap.

EntWrap will offer a number of significant advantages over current enteric coating processes, the company says. It will enable the coating of tablet cores in a single-step process without the need for these cores to have direct contact with solvents. Pharmaceutical products that were previously unable to be processed with an enteric layer due to interactions with solvents or water or because the tablet cores were too soft can now have an enteric layer added.

The market potential for enteric-coated tablets, is significantly greater than the gelatin coating market, BioProgress believes.

TabWrap is a core technology of BioProgress in which solid tablet cores are coated with a non-gelatin layer of XGEL film. This tablet-wrapping technology competes against the gelatin-coated tablet market. It is anticipated that stability trials of new TabWrap products will commence during the first half of next year. BioProgress is working with a number of leading pharmaceutical companies in developing products utilising the TabWrap technology.

The first TabWrap tablet-coating machine is due to be placed into a cGMP pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing facility in the UK in the fourth quarter of 2006 for a series of initial validation tests.

"The BioProgress team is working hard to commercialise our TabWrap technology and the successful trials of our new EntWrap enteric coating system is further confirmation of the potential of our technology systems," said. Richard Trevillion, ceo of BioProgress. "The development of EntWrap widens the market opportunity for BioProgress. With the installation of the first TabWrap machine later this year, we anticipate an aggressive development programme of products.

"We will either market these ourselves or in part-nership with other pharmaceutical companies. These developments are expected to generate revenues during 2007."