Robert Pauli Scherer Home inventor of the Rotary Die Encapsulation Process Softgel manufacturing

In 1933 the prolific inventor Robert Pauli Scherer (19061960) invented the rotary die encapsulation process, revolutionizing the soft-gelatin encapsulation field. He founded the R. P. Scherer Corporation to commercialize his invention. R.P. Scherer Corporation was acquired by Cardinal Health, Inc. in 1998, and was a significant part of the Pharmaceutical Technologies & Services segment. Several other businesses were acquired and subsequently spun out of R.P. Scherer Corporation, including Scherer Laboratories. The Pharmaceutical Technologies & Services segment of Cardinal Health was acquired by the Blackstone Group in 2007 and subsequently named Catalent Pharma Solutions.

A softgel is an oral dosage form for medicine similar to capsules. They consist of a gelatin based shell surrounding a liquid fill. Softgel shells are a combination of gelatin, water, and a plasticiser such as glycerin and/or sorbitol(s).

Softgels are produced in a process known as encapsulation using the Rotary Die Encapsulation process invented by Robert Pauli Scherer. The encapsulation process has been described as a form/fill/seal process. Two flat ribbons of shell material are manufactured on the machine and brought together on a twin set of rotating dies. The dies contain recesses in the desired size and shape, which cut out the ribbons into a two dimensional shape, and form a seal around the outside. At the same time a pump delivers a precise dose of fill material through a nozzle incorporated into a filling wedge whose tip sits between the two ribbons in between two die pockets at the point of cut out. The wedge is heated to facilitate the sealing process. The wedge injection causes the two flat ribbons to expand into the die pockets, giving rise to the three dimensional finished product. After encapsulation, the softgels are dried for two days to two weeks depending on the product.

In recent years,manufacturers have been able to replace gelatin in the shell with other polymers based on, for example, starch and carrageenan.

Catalent Pharma Solutions is the current owner of the RPScherer technology.

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