Granulation and Drying: the Choice of Excipients Matters

Solid dosage forms are made of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and excipients which influence the powder processing and the quality of the final dosage form. The success of multiple step processes such as tableting and capsule filling mostly depends on instrument parameters and powder handling in intermediate steps like granulation (wet, dry) and drying. This application report examines the moisture uptake capacity of the excipients milled and sieved lactose and methylcellulose in order to estimate their behavior during wet granulation. The same excipients were also tested at different temperatures to reproduce the drying effect. It was investigated how the amount of moisture adsorbed during wet granulation and the temperature effect during the consecutive drying have an impact on the flow and compression characteristics.