Encap Drug Delivery establishes Hot Melt Extrusion (HME) capability
Released: Wednesday 10th October 2012
Livingston, United Kingdom, 8th October 2012
Encap Drug Delivery (EDD) and the School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast have received
funding from the Technology Strategy Board and the Scottish Government that will allow both to enter
into a collaborative Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) on Hot Melt Extrusion (HME).
Encap is a contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) which has pioneered the
application of liquid and semi-solid filled hard capsules for pharmaceutical products. For more than 20
years the company has successfully applied the technology to a wide range of client new molecular
entities (NMEs) which have required solubility and bioavailability enhancement. Since its inception the
company has focused on gaining a sound scientific understanding of the formulation strategies which can
be tailored to the individual characteristics of the target molecules and more importantly translating these
formulations into scalable and commercial liquid filled pharmaceutical products.
It is the company’s intention to apply a similar strategy to the development of HME products and Encap
will differentiate itself from other development services companies by providing a sound scientific
understanding of the technology. This will ensure that products are developed on a rigorous scientific
basis and promote robust and scalable manufacturing processes which will enable clients to move quickly
and efficiently through clinical development to registration and commercialisation.
Dr Jane Fraser said ‘I am delighted to be working with Professor David Jones and Dr Gavin Andrews of
QUB which is recognised as a world leader in the field of HME research. Encap is dedicated to providing
world-class development and manufacturing services to its global clients and we are confident that we
can establish and grow HME as a mainstream technology for poorly soluble molecules. We believe that
this will be a valuable addition to the formulator’s tool box and will fit well with our other enabling
technologies’.
Dr Gavin Andrews reiterated the importance of the grant programme ‘Specifically, our intention is that
QUB will implement a robust, continuous melt extrusion process capable of engineering solid dispersions.
In so doing we aim to complement existing soluble enhancement approaches through the addition of
HME and thus bolster Encap’s technologies portfolio’
About Encap Drug Delivery
Encap Drug Delivery is the world’s largest contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO)
totally dedicated to liquid and semi-solid (hot melt) filled capsules. The company was established in 1989
and is a global provider of oral drug delivery and pharmaceutical development services. The company
provides clients with fully integrated analytical and formulation development services, clinical trial
manufacturing and high volume commercial manufacturing. Encap’s state-of-the-art facility in the UK has
been audited by the FDA and MHRA and supplies clinical and commercial products to all major global
markets including EU, North and South America and Japan.
For further information please contact:
Leona Dunlop, Encap Drug Delivery, Units 4, 5 & 6, Oakbank Park Way, Livingston, United Kingdom,
EH53 0TH. Tel: +44 (0)1506 448080. E-mail: ldunlop@encapdrugdelivery.com
