There is a lot said and left unsaid about drug prices and industry dynamics. To assist with consumer understanding of some of the workings of the industry in terms of whys, Director of Asian Business Development for Erweka, Thorsten Boettcher, offered a lay person's view of Erweka's products distributed in Korea via MiraeST.
Much of the drug equipment industry is at the mercy of the everchanging pharmacopiea standards of a country or region, though amongst the 'have to dos' there are some good examples of industry exceeding expectations, one piece of equipment not subject to this standard is a drug hardness tester. The hardness tester is an ethical piece of equipment when viewed from the point of view that if bits of a tablet fall off and lessen the strength of a dose it could spell a fatality. The tester is able to be programmed for tests of diameter and thickness as well as how crumbly or soft the combination is. The machine assists companies to exceed customer requirements laid out by governing standards and assures quality stability which interestingly, Director of Asian Business Development for Erweka, Thorsten Boettcher, said, in the context of diverse perceptions of hardness, was a cultural concept in some places.
Little known is that when a drug is declared 'immediate release' to us, the public, the body may take up to 15 minutes to be able to absorb it. The fifteen minute 'immediate release' standard is tested for using a disintegration tester. The disintegration tester works by simulating the body's action in that it takes, for example, 15 minutes for a tablet to disintegrate in the machine. Disintegration, is one of the pieces of equipment that regulatory bodies in most locations will control the standards for.
Another standard test that is in turn regulated by pharmacopiea standards is the dissolution of pharmaceuticals. MiraeST have a new version of dissolution tester that is better aligned with EU (European Union) and U.S. (United States) pharmacopiea standards. It is specially modified to be more user friendly.
MiraeST: www.miraest.co.kr
Erweka: http://www.erweka.com/en.html
