The film-coated tablets are conventional solid dosage forms which coated with a thin layer of polymer. The major advantage of film coating tablets is that they are used for masking odor, and taste, physical and chemical protection, and controls the release profile.
Pharmaceutical tablets are the most prescribed solid dosage forms that typically contain one or more API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) in the powdered form with excipients that are prepared either by moulding or by compression.
The tablets are coated to make the tablet quality and convenient to take. It is coated with a suitable coating material to separate the drug from outside in the tablet, thus preventing oxidation of air, moisture, odor, light, and increasing the preservation of the drug.
Film-coated tablets are conventional tablets that are coated with a thin polymer coating. The film is typically colored and has the same basic characteristics as the sugar coating, with the additional benefit of being more stable, less bulky, and takes minimum time to apply.
Advantages of film-coated tablets:
- The advantage of the film coating tablet is that it is designed to disintegrate and expose the core tablet to the desired location in the gastrointestinal tract.
- The film-coated tablets are less bulky and cheaper as compared to sugar-coated tablets.
- Using the film coating process in pharmaceutical manufacturing can reduce or protect dust in the work environment.
- The tablet coating increases the shelf life by protecting it from air, moisture, and light, hence it is more stable in chemical, physical, and microbiological properties.
- Film-coated tablets have lower production costs and time with a higher degree of automation than liquid dosage forms.
- It has been formulated to use with different characteristics, such as controlled release film, gastric film, sustained-release films, enteric film, etc. Due to which its application in broad ranges.
- Film-coated tablets are compact, attractive, and smooth shape, so it can be easy for children and elderly patients to swallow.
- The polymer materials are non-toxic and tasteless and significantly enhance the dissolution rate, bioavailability, and the drug's effective time.
Disadvantages of film-coated tablets:
- The major disadvantage of film coating tablets is that not all drugs and excipients are suitable for coating.
- The film-coated tablets are intended for oral routes of administration, hence it is difficult to swallow, particularly for children, sick, and unconscious patients.
- Hygroscopic drugs, low density, and amorphous are not suitable to compress in the punching machine.
- The manufacture of film-coated tablets in the pharmaceutical industry has complex processes and requires expensive machines compared to conventional tablets.
- The probability of batch failure of a coated tablet is higher than the traditional batch.
- The coated tablets are expensive.
- Production costs can increase due to the coating and complex manufacturing process.
- Due to the stability issue, more than two or three APIs can only be formulated in capsules, not tablets.
Commonly asked questions on dosage forms are as follows.
What type of defect occurs in the manufacturing of film coating tablets?
Picking, peeling, mottling, and cracking are the most frequently occurring defects in film coating tablets.
What are the types of tablet coating?
Sugarcoating, film coating, enteric coating, controlled release coating, specialized coating, compressed coating, electrostatic coating, dip coating, and vacuum film coating are the types of tablet coating.
What is the difference between capsules and tablets?
Tablets and capsules both are the solid dosage forms; the tablet consists of compressed powder, whereas the capsule consists of powder or jelly enclosed in a dissolvable gelatin container.
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