January
Pill making
The pill, one of the oldest oral dosage forms in pharmacy, has gradually declined worldwide during the 20th century. The transformation of solid raw materials into pills has traditionally been a task for pharmacies, a role that has been largely taken over by tablet manufacturing and the filling of powders into gelatin capsules.
Preparation process
During the traditional pill manufacturing process, active ingredients are mixed with excipients, and then a binding agent is added and kneaded to a plastic consistency in a mortar using a pestle. Excipients can include fillers (such as glucose, lactose, sorbitol, mannitol, dextrin, white clay, so on) necessary to achieve the appropriate size, as well as disintegrants (such as starch, agar powder, sodium bicarbonate) that aid in the disintegration and absorption of the pill after ingestion.
A binding agent is always required. It should be selected based on the active and excipient materials, in the necessary quantity to achieve the right consistency. Commonly used binding agents include polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), macrogol stearate, sorbitol, and syrup.
The mass for the pills is then rolled into a cylinder, cut into pieces by machine, and shaped into spheres. Sometimes, the small balls are dusted with white clay to prevent them from sticking together. The finished pills are packaged in paper or plastic boxes.
Applicability
Until then, the availability of only liquid formulations, the pill was the first solid, orally ingested medicine, so it’s no surprise that this form quickly gained great popularity. As a result, various trademarked versions appeared, featuring notches, cuts, or embossing.
At its peak, hundreds of pill formulations were recorded in various pharmaceutical textbooks around the world. The fate of the dosage form was sealed in 1843 by William Brockedon, a painter, writer, and inventor, who created a device that produced a brand-new dosage form: the tablet.
Tablets spread as quickly as pills did in their time. Since the method of preparing this new dosage form soon became automatable, unlike pills that still required manual production centuries later, the concept of pills gradually began to disappear from most medical and pharmaceutical textbooks.
Did you know?
- Even in ancient Egypt, ball-shaped medicinal preparations similar to pills were used, made from saffron, myrrh, and cinnamon, with honey and various resins as binders.
- In the Middle Ages, the bitter taste of the pills was masked by coating the balls with plant-based substances, spices, and later sugar, to make them easier to take and swallow.
- Later on, the so-called Pilula Perpetua, or eternal pill, became popular. This small ball made from the metal antimony, believed to have a laxative effect, would pass unchanged through the digestive system and be excreted with the stool, after which the pill was carefully washed and reused, even on another patient.
Although pills have their own advantages, they are not considered a modern dosage form because they are produced manually, which is not hygienic enough. The introduction of tablets and capsules has almost completely replaced their use; nevertheless, many older doctors still prescribe them to their patients today.