Consumables

Create your own colors: BASF and X-Rite break new ground in color coating of tablets

Tuesday 19. April 2011 - Pharmaceutical formulators to enjoy easy on-site tablet color determination

Enabling of cost-effective and high quality color film coatings
BASF and X-Rite open up an easy to handle on-site approach to color coating tablets by combining the latest tablet color determination device with BASF’s Kollicoat IR Coating Systems. With ColorEye XTH, X-Rite offers a portable tool for tablet color determination. The tablet color is then easily translated into BASF’s Kollicoat IR Coating Systems recipe, matching the desired color shade perfectly. This collaboration is part of the ongoing trend towards immediate availability of results without any outsourcing activities.
“This unique, systematic and easy-to-apply approach to color matching draws on the expertise of both BASF and X-Rite to provide a solution that responds to the specific challenges faced by pharmaceutical formulators today. This solution goes beyond anything else currently available,” says Dr. Kathrin Meyer-Böhm, Pharma Ingredients and Services, BASF SE. Within minutes the color of a tablet can be determined by ColorEye XTH and translated into a Kollicoat IR Coating Systems recipe that can be formulated easily on-site. This approach replaces complex logistic processes and ensures that in-house formulation knowledge remains confidential.
“Through this collaboration with BASF, we can reach out to customers in a wider scope, from technical aspects to manufacturing and development sectors. We see this as a successful collaboration and expect good business to follow,” adds Francesco Tomasello, Vice President Marketing & Sales EMEA, X-Rite
BASF’s Kollicoat IR Coating Systems are an innovative modular system of seven base colors. The base colors are designed to combine easily to produce instantly recognizable tablets in hundreds of different shades. Kollicoat IR Coatings Systems, with excellent flow properties, quick re-dispersibility and very low viscosity, allow a shorter spray process because they accommodate high concentrations of solids over a wide temperature range. These unique characteristics result in high quality film coatings and cost-effective coating processes.
X-Rite’s XTH ColorEye Handheld Spectrophotometer is a practical device that accurately measures tablet and capsule colors. The ColorEye XTH precisely measures the colors of contoured and textured opaque parts in a wide range of sizes, taking into account how the human eye responds to surface effects. The instrument has different apertures to accommodate a wide range of tablet sizes and shapes.
This unique on-site approach to color matching for pharmaceutical applications is part of BASF’s ExActCoat+ coating events. Upcoming ExActCoats+ are planned for the US and Asia in the fall of 2011.