Rousselot, Darling Ingredients’ health brand, has announced the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted the company’s patent application for StabiCaps, a gelatin excipient solution designed to soft gel formulation and stability. 

Owing to its natural properties, functional benefits and suitability for immediate release dosing, gelatin is the most common gel forming agent used in soft gel production. Launched in 2018, StabiCaps offers superior shell stability and API release levels when compared to standard gelatins, Rousselot says. The excipient reportedly minimises the risk of cross-linking reactions in soft gel production, a common challenge faced by nutraceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturers when using reactive fills. 

“As Darling Ingredients’ health brand, we constantly push to create innovative solutions in the health space and protect them through patents,” said Pierre-Albert Thomas, Director, Rousselot Functional Ingredients. “After obtaining the EPO patent for SiMoGel, a gelatin solution for functional gummies last November, we proudly add this new patent for StabiCaps to our portfolio. Functional gummies and soft gels are two of the fastest growing dosage formats in the healthcare sector today. This new patent provides our customers with the security and freedom to operate using our product.” 

The patent granted for StabiCaps by the EPO (ref. EP 17754820.3) is effective in all major countries in Europe and is pending in Brazil, China and the United States. 

Soft capsules, also known as soft gels, are mainly used as a vessel for oil-based liquids or paste-like fills, and have grown in popularity over the years because of ease of absorption.