There are a number of granulation technologies available to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Given the importance of granulation in the production of oral solid dosage forms, this paper offers advice on various processes.

Granulation is one of the most important unit operations in the production of pharmaceutical oral dosage forms. However, there are many different technologies each having different strengths and weaknesses. Most companies choose which one to use simply based on their own experience. This article introduces different processes, compares them objectively, offers unbiased advice on the merits of each system and then looks at the implications of selection a particular granulation 
process.

UPDATE 2010: Originally written and published in 2004 by Dr. Harald Stahl, this document has now been updated to include the latest process advancements and innovations in Granulation
technology.

by Dr. Harald Stahl
Senior pharmaceutical technologist at
GEA Pharma Systems
harald.stahl@geagroup.com