Many active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have an inherently bitter or unpleasant taste, creating challenges in oral drug delivery, especially for pediatric, geriatric, and oncology patients who may struggle with medication adherence. Standard taste-masking methods such as film coating, microencapsulation, or flavoring often fail when dealing with super-bitter APIs, making it necessary to explore advanced formulation technologies that ensure patient compliance while maintaining bioavailability, dispersion, and drug release profiles.
Advanced Taste-Masking Technologies & Equipment
Federal Equipment Company supports the pharmaceutical industry in overcoming taste-masking challenges by providing high-quality processing and manufacturing equipment essential for the development of oral solid dose formulations containing bitter APIs. Our extensive inventory of used and ready-to-ship machinery enables rapid scale-up and formulation development while reducing procurement lead times and costs.
Key technologies for taste-masking include:
- Coating Process & Functional Film Coating – Coaters and coating pans provide protective layers that mask bitterness while controlling drug release. Functional coatings can also enhance solubility, stability, and friability of tablets while ensuring a smooth patient experience. Our inventory includes top-tier coaters that support sustained release and immediate release formulations.
- Spray Drying & Fluid Bed Processing – Spray dryers and fluid bed dryers/processors are essential for creating dispersion-optimized multiparticulate drug delivery systems that enhance solubility, particle size control, and bioavailability of bitter APIs. These technologies help improve taste-masking efficiency without impacting drug efficacy.
- Tablet Compression & Direct Compression – High-performance tablet presses enable the production of oral solid dose forms (OSD), including taste-masked chewables, orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs), and softgels. Direct compression methods using excipients such as polymers, copolymers, and resins help achieve homogeneity while improving drug stability. Coating formulations further enhance patient compliance by ensuring drug release is carefully controlled.
Optimizing Formulation & Process Parameters
The success of taste-masking technologies depends on precise drug development, coating formulation, process optimization, and FDA validation. Federal Equipment Company provides access to the essential equipment that supports:
- Controlled Release & Immediate Release formulations
- Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and ethyl cellulose-based coatings
- Hot-melt extrusion & fluid bed granulation for multiparticulate systems
- Continuous manufacturing approaches for enhanced efficiency
- Solvent-based and solvent-free coating techniques for improved formulation performance
To further enhance efficiency, our division Techceuticals offers hands-on training, troubleshooting, and process optimization services to help companies refine their formulation strategies. From granulation to compression, coating, and encapsulation, our experts provide tailored guidance to optimize your manufacturing processes and ensure regulatory compliance.
Supporting Pharmaceutical Innovation & Scale-Up
Federal Equipment Company works closely with pharmaceutical manufacturers, CDMOs, and formulation developers to provide equipment solutions that enable rapid prototyping, validation, and commercial-scale production of taste-masked oral solid dose drug products. By offering a robust selection of processing equipment, we help streamline the development of patient-friendly drug delivery systems while ensuring regulatory compliance and product stability.
In addition to equipment, Techceuticals provides consulting services for process validation, troubleshooting, and solid dosage formulation development. Whether you need assistance with cGMP compliance, equipment qualification, or formulation challenges, our team is equipped to help accelerate your scale-up process while improving efficiency and product quality.
Visit Our Booth at Interphex 2025
Stop by booth #3109 to discuss your equipment needs. We have on-hand inventory in more than 200 categories, allowing you to source reliable pharma processing and packaging equipment immediately. Our inventory is sourced through asset management programs with large multinational companies, providing access to high-quality, leading OEM brand equipment from reputable sources. This ensures you can install and operate the machinery you need as fast as possible, reducing your time to market and optimizing your drug development process.
At Interphex 2025, we will be discussing critical advancements in taste masking for super-bitter APIs, including novel coating formulations, dispersion strategies, and particle size optimization for enhanced drug delivery. Whether you are looking to improve solvent-based coating processes, spray drying techniques, or direct compression methods, our team is here to help optimize your oral solid dose formulation strategies with the right manufacturing equipment.
Our leadership team, including President Adam Covitt, Director of Latin American Operations Orlando Martinez, Executive Vice President Justin Kadis, and Techceuticals Technical Director Jesus Lopez, will be in attendance at our booth. They will be available to discuss how our solutions can support your pharmaceutical coating, spray drying and compression needs.
Have surplus equipment to sell? We would like to discuss this with you. Please stop by our booth and let us know what you would like to sell.
No matter what your equipment needs are, make Federal Equipment Company your first call. Explore our inventory today and meet us at Interphex 2025 to discuss your manufacturing needs.
