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Capsules are solid preparations in which the drug substance(s) and/or excipients are enclosed in a soft or hard soluble shell. The shell is usually made from gelatin or other suitable polymeric material and results in a simple, tasteless, odorless, elegant, easy-to-swallow dosage form without the need for secondary coating.
Depending on the structure of the capsule shell, capsules can be classified as hard or soft capsules, soft capsules contain a flexible, plasticized gelatin film. The shell can consist of two pieces in the form of cylinders closed at one end; A short piece, called a ‘cap’, and a long piece, called a ‘body’, or they may consist of a single piece. Two-piece capsules and one-piece capsules are commonly referred to as hard-shell capsules and soft-shell capsules, respectively.
The shell can consist of two pieces in the form of cylinders closed at one end; A short piece, called a ‘cap’, and a long piece, called a ‘body’, or they may consist of a single piece. Two-piece capsules and one-piece capsules are commonly referred to as hard-shell capsules and soft-shell capsules, respectively.
Capsules can be filled with a variety of formulations, including dry powders, semisolids, undiluted liquids, and other dosage forms such as beads, mini-tablets, and even mini capsules, most of which are intended for oral administration. There are also specialized applications such as capsules that can be loaded into dry-powder inhalers, reagents added as part of diagnostic kits, and occasionally soft-shell capsules as suppositories for rectal or vaginal administration.
The first capsule made from gelatin was a one-piece capsule patented in France in 1834 by pharmacists Joseph Gerard Dublanc and François Achille Bernabé Mothes (a pharmacy student). Although the shells of these early capsules were not plasticized, such capsules would likely be classified. Today as soft gelatin capsules based on shape, content and other properties.
In 1848, James Murdock invented the two-piece telescoping (hard gelatin) capsule, patented in England in 1865.
