- Background
- What we're looking for
- What we can offer you
- Who we are
- Q&A
Effervescent tablets are conventional oral dosage formats for delivering drugs or nutritional supplements. The tablet converts into a drink with the addition of water. The effervescent component (commonly citric acid and sodium hydrogen carbonate) reacts with water to release CO2 that helps to dissolve the ingredients of the tablet.
The main disadvantage of the effervescent dosage form is its sensitivity to moisture, which requires air-tight packaging like aluminum pouches or plastic tubes with desiccant.
Working towards its mission of Health for all and Hunger for none, Bayer Consumer Healthcare has pledged packaging sustainability commitments and agreed to adhere to restrictive regulation for plastic usage starting 2030 in the EU.
We are interested in formulation solutions for these tablets that would make them more moisture-resistant so they can eventually be packaged in paper or other sustainable formats. For this project, we are focused on the formulation of the tablets themselves. We are not seeking packaging solutions.
Bayer Consumer Health is looking for alternative effervescent components and/or moisture barrier coatings for tablets. We are also open to other creative approaches that improve moisture resistance of the tablets. Ideally the technology can work across various dosage systems and ingredients, although multiple technologies for different systems/ingredients are also acceptable.
- Alternative effervescent components for use in the tablet
- Coating or surface treating technologies to improve moisture-resistance of the tablet
- Encapsulation technologies that provide a kind of protective, water-soluble shell around the tablet
- Acceptable organoleptic properties especially taste
- Disintegration time max 3 min
- Edible ingredients, ideally compliant with food / pharma regulations worldwide
The final product (after partnering with Bayer Consumer Health) will need to pass the must-have requirements for an effervescent tablet. Ideally, applicants would have information regarding these requirements:
- Ingredients should have gas forming capability
- The final drug product should be stable for at least 24 months when stored at 25°C/60% relative humidity and 30°C/75% relative humidity as well as 6 months at 40°C/75% relative humidity.
- Commercially scalable technology
- One solid unit providing similar consumer experience compared to one effervescent tablet/day
- Product moisture isotherm sorption plot must remain flat at 25°C and 30°C
- Alternative formats like soluble powders, freeze-dried, water-dispersible
- The solution must not drastically increase the tablet size/volume
- The solution must not be a packaging option (The solution should be applicable to the formulation/tablet, not the packaging.)
At Bayer, our mission is to use science to improve everyday health for everyone. We can’t do it alone, so we actively search for and bring in talented, driven partners from around the consumer health industry. With our size and scale, we can help bring exciting new tools developed by others to market faster, and increase people’s access to them.
Our commitment to partnerships means simply bringing better products to those who need them faster. We look for partners who have new ideas, capabilities, insights and strengths that we might not have. For our partners, this commitment can mean access to much-needed investment or technical capacity. But most importantly, it means knowing they are working with a science-led and trusted global company that can help them grow and reach more people.
Learn moreThe Q&A is now closed.
Other recommended requests
delivered to your inbox.