The advancement of Roller Compaction, the manufacturing method that continues to gain importance.

David O’Connell at PCI Pharma Services discusses the advances of dry granulation as an alternative to traditional wet granulation for the development and manufacturing of solid oral dosage forms, including tablets and capsules.

Q: What exactly is roller compaction?

A: Roller compaction is a form of dry granulation, through the aggregation and densification of dry powders into a uniform solid mass (ribbon). The ribbon is then broken down into specific granule size via a milling system, which means that the powder particles are made to adhere to each other to form the larger multi-particulate units - the granules. Granulation can be performed without the addition of a liquid, so called ‘dry granulation’, which differs from a ‘wet granulation’ method, such as high shear granulation or fluidized bed granulation. In summary, with a dry granulation method, the powder blend is compacted by applying a force onto the powder, generally increasing the size of the granule.