Sprinkle Capsule Supports People with Swallowing Difficulties

Capsugel is launching a capsule design to improve adherence to treatment regimens for patients with difficulties swallowing, including babies, children and older adults as well as patients with medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis. The new Coni-Snap sprinkle capsule is expected to be available in 2014.

“We recognise that patient populations are very diverse with different needs, which is challenging the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to drug formulation and development,” said Sven Stegemann, PhD, Director for Pharmaceutical Business Development at Capsugel. “Especially among very young and very old patients, there is a need for dose adjustments to account for the physiological differences in these patient populations. Easy-to-open capsule technology allows for accurate dosing at many different dose strengths of easy-to-swallow multiparticulates and sprinkles, which may lead to improved adherence and minimise dispensing errors.”

Encapsulated drug multiparticulates or sprinkles, containing a defined dose of medicine that can be sprinkled on food or beverages, is a known alternative for people with challenges swallowing. The major difficulty using standard capsules is that their strong locking mechanism requires sufficient grip strength and dexterity to reopen the capsule. Capsugel’s Coni-Snap sprinkle capsule was developed to provide easy-to-open capsules to caregivers and patients yet has a strong enough lock that allows for processing in the manufacturing and distribution chain.

Capsugel tested the new design with caregivers to gauge usability, ease of opening and user accuracy when sprinkling medications. More than 80% of participants described the new design as ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to open. And, while most participants naturally opened the capsules horizontally, the evaluation determined that the most effective way to instruct users to open the capsules was with arrows printed directly on the capsule shell.

“The easy-to-open capsule has the potential to make medication management simpler for patients and caregivers without compromising quality, safety or efficacy for patients,” said Dr. Stegemann. “Also, for the pharmaceutical industry, Coni-Snap sprinkle capsules offer a cost-effective solution for commercial products and line extensions based on existing and proven formulation and manufacturing technology.”

The Coni-Snap sprinkle capsule will be previewed on Capsugel's stand at CPhI Worldwide.

Stand 41G20

Capsugel, +1 610 680 6214, christina.chnaider@capsugel.com, www.capsugel.com.