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RGLAX PHARMARglax Coat

The polymers behind a coating system

A ready-mix hides the chemistry, which is convenient until your filing names a polymer. This is what sits underneath each of our ranges.

Enteric, delayed release

Methacrylic acid copolymer

Also written as methacrylic base, acrylic enteric polymer

Methacrylic acid copolymers stay intact in the stomach and dissolve once pH rises in the intestine. They carry most of the enteric range because they can be applied from either a solvent or a water base, which lets the same polymer family serve cores that can and cannot tolerate an aqueous process.

Grades built on it

Enteric, delayed release

Cellulose acetate phthalate

Also written as CAP, CAP base

CAP is the older of the enteric polymers and is still named in many filings. Where your dossier specifies a CAP film, the methacrylic route is not a substitution you can make without a change control, which is why we hold a CAP grade for the same actives.

Grades built on it

Enteric, delayed release

Phthalate base polymer

Also written as HPMC phthalate, phthalate enteric polymer

A phthalate base governs release differently from a methacrylic film, so a dissolution profile developed on one does not carry across to the other. Confirm the acid stage and the buffer stage on the first trial batch.

Grades built on it

Immediate release film, seal, sugar film

Hypromellose

Also written as HPMC, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

HPMC is the workhorse of immediate release film coating. It forms a clear, tough film at low build-up, takes pigment well and does not delay release, which is why it underpins both the moisture barrier range and the sugar film coat.

Grades built on it

Moisture barrier, immediate release

Polyvinyl alcohol

Also written as PVA

PVA films are less permeable to water vapour than HPMC at the same thickness, which is what makes a moisture barrier a barrier. Our moisture barrier grades are fully formulated HPMC and PVA based immediate release systems, so the protection does not come at the cost of release.

Grades built on it

Grades whose polymer base is not listed here are not omitted by accident. We publish the base where it is part of the specification, and confirm the rest against your requirement directly. Ask us about a specific grade.