The excipient of choice for hard capsules in pharma

Choosing the right excipient for your nutraceutical or pharmaceutical product is a vital part of ensuring optimal delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in both hard and soft capsules. While a few new shell ingredients have recently entered the market, gelatin remains the excipient of choice for manufacturers worldwide.

  • Between 2012 and 2017, hard capsules accounted for 12%(1) of all prescription-based and over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical products
  • In 2021, hard capsules represented 30,6% of the global supplement launches(2)
  • The global empty capsules market is anticipated to grow at over 9,3% from 2023 to 2028, reaching a value 4,9$ billion by 2028(3)

(1) FDA figures 2011 to 2017
(2) Innova Database
(3) Empty capsules market by Type - Markets and Markets-Global forecast to 2028

25% of capsules worldwide are sourced with Rousselot gelatin

Gelatin is the preferred excipient of choice, accounting for the highest estimated revenues in the hard and soft capsule market in 2019. In this huge industry, Rousselot Functional Ingredients plays a leading role, both in volume and expertise. Of all capsules manufactured in the world, over 25% are sourced with Rousselot Functional Ingredients.

Key advantages of our gelatins in hard capsules

Clear label

  • Clear label
  • Optimal technical performance:
    Optimal rate of dissolution
    Mechanical resistance
    Low brittleness
    Limited oxygen permeability
  • High operational effectiveness:
    Machinability
    Reduced Weight variations
    Cost-efficiency
  • Complete safety

A high-performance solution

Designed to meet the requirements of the latest high-speed machinery, our gelatins are high-performance solutions for hard capsules of any size or shape. They will help you overcome pharmaceutical manufacturing challenges, facilitating the encapsulation of powder as well as more complex solid forms, such as capsules in capsules and pellet capsules.