An excipient is an inactive substance that acts as a vehicle for the active drug. Sugar often serves as an excipient, adding bulk, consistency, and masking unpleasant tastes. Sugar coatings on tablets protect from air and moisture while improving flavor and identification. Pharma grade invert sugar syrup is primarily used to counteract unpleasant drug tastes and can add viscosity or bulk. It provides quick energy and extends shelf life. Pharma grade sugars undergo rigorous testing to standards set by the European Pharmacopoeia to ensure only the highest quality products.

1. Primaryinfo.com

2. What is an excipient?
An excipient is an inactive substance that
acts as the dosage vehicle for an active
drug. In the pharmaceutical industry, sugar
often occupies this role, performing
functions ranging from adding bulk and
consistency to tablets, to making unpleasant
tasting medicines palatable. The sugar used
for this is usually either pharma grade
sucrose or invert sugar syrup

3. Alongside taste and texture, sugar
is also used as a pharmaceutical
excipient in tablets and capsules
to assist with appearance and
ease of transport and storage.
Once sugar-coated, a tablet is
protected from the damaging
effects of air and moisture, is
easier to swallow due to an
improved flavour, and, once
combined with colouring agents,
is quickly identifiable.

4. Although an inactive
ingredient, sugar is
crucial to the
medicines consumed
by millions across the
world

5. What is pharma grade invert sugar syrup?
While pharmaceutical applications that
traditionally favored sucrose are turning to
alternatives, the demand for pharma grade
invert sugar syrup is higher than ever.
Primarily used to counteract the unpleasant
taste of the active ingredients in some
medicines, pharma grade invert sugar syrup
can also add viscosity to a product and act as
a diluent, meaning it adds bulk. In addition,
the sugar also provides a quick hit of energy,
particularly useful in cold and flu medications,
and helps to extend the shelf life of the
products as well as improve the taste

6. How is pharma grade sugar tested and what
accreditations must it receive?
Due to the nature of the pharmaceutical industry, all
sugar used in it is subject to extremely rigorous
testing. The European Council’s European
Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur. or EP) is the legal and
scientific benchmark against which all
pharmaceutical products produced and sold in 38
European, and over 100 worldwide, countries are
measured. This ensures standards are kept
extremely high and that only products of the highest
quality are produced.

7. Technical Know- how

9. Sugar Milling Plant

12. MARKET SCENARIO - INDIA
India has been a key driver behind this
recent spike in the demand for pharma
grade invert sugar syrup. A growing
middle class has led to increased
awareness of and demand for medical
treatment, forcing drug manufacturers to
turn to external sugar vendors to keep up
with consumer requirements. As a result,
several new bulk industrial sugar
manufacturing facilities have sprung up
across India, with this still only going part
way to fully satisfying the demand.