[learn_more caption=”Jerry Klinzing”] Jerry Klinzing is currently a member of the Compaction Research Laboratory, West Point, PA. This group is responsible for all aspects of compaction and mechanical property characterization of drug substance and product. His research interests include material characterization and computational modeling. He holds B.E. in Chemical Engineering (U. of Delaware – 2007) and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA (2012).[/learn_more]

Approximately 80% of pharmaceutical drug products are in the form of a tablet. New tablet formulations are optimized to minimize the incidence of tablet defects which negatively impact productivity and could result in patient complaints. Defects such as chipping, abrasion, and sticking are all related to a tablet’s microstructure which is innately a function of the material properties of the drug product composition. Consequently the microstructure of a tablet must be well understood in order to avoid defects associated with downstream processes such as film coating and packaging. Calibrated computational models provide a tool to understand how density varies within tablets. Tablet images of different shapes, sizes, and those incorporating embossing may be modeled computationally thus reducing the API and number of experiments required to evaluate several tablet images. These computational models may be used to predict specific microstructural features which will help optimize the shape and size of marketed products.