Report on Nuvista Pharma Ltd (Part-7)

Granulation

Most powders cannot be compressed directly into tablet because-

1. They lack the proper characteristics of binding or bonding together into a compact entity and
2. They do not ordinarily possess the lubricating and disintegrating properties required for tableting.

For these reasons, drugs must first be pretreated either alone or in combination with filler to form granules that lend themselves to tableting. This process is known as granulation.

Granulation is any process of size enlargement whereby small particles are gathered together into larger, permanent aggregates to render then into free flowing state similar to that of dry sand.

On the other hand, granulation is in part of the pharmaceutical process that attempts to improve the flow of powdered materials by forming sphere like or regularly shaped aggregates called granules.

Reasons of Granulation:

1. To prevent segregation of the constituents in the powder mix
2. To improve flow properties of the mix
3. To improve compression characteristics of the mix
4. The granulation of toxic materials will reduce dust generation
5. Slightly hygroscopic materials will not form compacts
6. Granules are denser and thus occupy less volume per unit weight.

Advantage of Wet Granulation:

1. Improve flow properties

2. Densification

3. Improved compression characteristics

4. Reduction in dusting

5. Prevention of segregation of powder mix

Disadvantage of Wet Granulation:

1. Stability may be a concern for moisture sensitive or thermo labile drugs

2. Time, space and equipment required are costly.

Compression

Introduction

Compression is the process of applying pressure to a material. In pharmaceutical tableting an appropriate volume of granules in a die cavity is compressed between an upper and lower punch to consolidate the material into a single solid matrix, which is subsequently ejected from the die cavity as an intact tablet.