Pharmaceutical Industry Overview

	50 billion aspirin tablets are consumed worldwide each year
	The US economy currently has net gains of an estimated $2.4 trillion per year due to increased life expectancy
	70% of pharmaceutical drugs are consumed as powders in the form of tablets or capsules

Pharmaceutical drugs are used for the benefit of human and animal health. Innovators in pharmaceutical R&D of new drugs have not only controlled life threatening diseases and improved the quality of life and productivity, but have also increased the average life expectancy during the past few decades. The pharmaceutical industry is an important sector in the worldwide economy.

Around 70% of pharmaceutical drugs are consumed as the solid oral dosage type, that is tablets and capsules and the majority of the constituents of a dosage form are particulate in nature. These constituents are the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and the excipients. The particle size properties of pharmaceutical APIs and excipients are very important characteristics for these solid oral dosage formulations. During formulation development stages, in vitro tests are used to determine the profiles of solid dosage forms. This allows assessment of the interactive effects of these properties on the bioavailabilty of the API in the human body, and helps predict therapeutic efficiency. In general, while large particle size helps optimize flow during the granulation process of solid dose forms, a smaller particle size of APIs contained in tablets or capsules is known to enhance dissolution and absorption.