Coating defect
Loss of gastro resistance
An enteric batch that looks correct fails the acid stage, releasing before it should.
Written by the Rglax Pharma technical team, who formulate and manufacture every grade named on this guide at our WHO-GMP works in Tahliwal, Una (drug manufacturing licence NNZ/23/238). Reviewed 3 September 2026. Licences and certificates.
What usually sits behind it
- Bed temperature run above the band the enteric polymer tolerates, softening the film
- Insufficient film continuity over edges and debossing
- Enteric layer applied straight onto an acid labile core without a seal coat
Worth knowing
The enteric band sits at 30 to 32 degrees at the bed against a 45 to 50 degree inlet, well below the film coating band, and that gap is the reason.
Every cause above is a process parameter, not a property of the material. If you are seeing loss of gastro resistance on a grade of ours, send us the run conditions and a retained sample and we will work back from them — start at the contact page.
Grades formulated against it
Where loss of gastro resistance is the problem the grade was made for
Transparent seal coat and pre-coat
Clear sub-coat laid down before an enteric layer on acid labile cores.
Transparent layer seal coat or pre-coat applied ahead of an enteric coat, specified for the Pantoprazole group. It isolates the core from the enteric polymer and gives the functional layer a uniform surface to build on.
- Base ·
- Aqueous or non-aqueous
- Finish ·
- Transparent
- Formulated against ·
- Pantoprazole group
Enteric coat, methacrylic base, non-aqueous
Solvent base methacrylic enteric film for the Pantoprazole group.
Methacrylic base enteric coating applied from a non-aqueous system, formulated for the Pantoprazole group and other dissolution critical enteric tablets. It runs best over a transparent seal coat such as SC-401, which protects the acid labile core.
- Base ·
- Non-aqueous (solvent)
- Finish ·
- Enteric film, gastro resistant
- Formulated against ·
- Pantoprazole group
Read next
- Coating weight gain calculatorGastro resistance is a function of coat thickness, and thickness is measured as weight gain.
- Logo bridgingThe film lifts out of an embossed logo or break line and spans across it, so the debossing goes shallow or disappears.
- Picking and stickingTablets adhere to each other or to the pan, and fragments of film or core pull away, leaving pitted faces.
- Orange peel and roughnessA dimpled, matt surface rather than a smooth gloss, most visible under raking light.
- All 7 coating defectsThe whole list, with what each one looks like and the parameter behind it.