Enteric, delayed release
Cellulose acetate phthalate
Also written as CAP, CAP base.
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 it is
CAP is the older of the enteric polymers and is still named in many filings. Where your dossier specifies a CAP film, the methacrylic route is not a substitution you can make without a change control, which is why we hold a CAP grade for the same actives.
What it does in the film
CAP is an ester that stays intact in acid and hydrolyses as pH rises. The result is the same gastro resistance as a methacrylic film, reached by a different chemistry.
When to choose it
When your dossier names CAP. That is the honest answer. Switching a filed product from CAP to a methacrylic film is a change control with data behind it, not a substitution, which is why we hold a CAP grade for the same actives rather than asking customers to reformulate.
How it runs on the coater
Applied from solvent on the enteric band. Because CAP is more moisture sensitive than the methacrylic alternatives, the coated tablet benefits from moving to packing without a long open hold.
- Role
- Enteric, delayed release
- Also called
- CAP, CAP base
- Grades on this base
- 1
- Systems
- Enteric coating
- Made at
- Plot No. 30, Industrial Area Tahliwal, Himachal Pradesh, India
Grades built on cellulose acetate phthalate
What each grade on this base is for, and the actives it was formulated against. The process parameters are on each grade page.
Enteric coat, CAP base
Cellulose acetate phthalate enteric film for Diclofenac and Serratiopeptidase.
CAP base enteric coating material for Diclofenac and Serratiopeptidase enteric tablets. It is the alternative polymer route to ECM-RP348 where a CAP film is specified.
- Base ·
- Non-aqueous (solvent)
- Finish ·
- Enteric film, gastro resistant
- Formulated against ·
- Diclofenac, Serratiopeptidase
Read next
- Why an enteric coat runs cooler than a film coatThe two bands in our parameter tables are not a preference. They come from what the polymer does at temperature, and running the wrong one costs gastro resistance.
- Enteric Coating SystemDelayed release polymers on methacrylic, phthalate and CAP bases for aqueous or organic processing.
- Coating defects, and what causes themThe faults a film shows when the polymer is run outside its band, traced back to cause.
- Coating glossaryBuild-up, bed temperature, coalescence and the rest of the vocabulary this guide uses.
References
- FDA Inactive Ingredient Database
Maximum potency per dosage unit for each excipient in an approved US product.
- European Pharmacopoeia, EDQM
Excipient monographs, including the identity and purity tests a European buyer specifies against.
- USP-NF excipient monographs
The National Formulary monographs that US and Canadian specifications are written to.
- IPEC excipient GMP guide
The good manufacturing practice framework an excipient supplier is audited against.
Process bands quoted on this page are the ones our grades were developed on at Tahliwal. Confirm them on your own coater; a monograph describes the polymer, not your pan.
The other polymers
- Enteric, delayed releaseMethacrylic acid copolymermethacrylic base, acrylic enteric polymer
- Enteric, delayed releasePhthalate base polymerHPMC phthalate, phthalate enteric polymer
- Immediate release film, seal, sugar filmHypromelloseHPMC, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
- Moisture barrier, immediate releasePolyvinyl alcoholPVA
- Enteric and moisture barrier film, glazingShellaclac resin, pharmaceutical glaze, E904
Films built on this polymer
Metallic gold film coat
Metallic blue DB3012
Aqueous colour film coat
Extra white film coat