Capsules are a kind of pharmaceutical excipients, which are made of special film-forming materials (such as gelatin, cellulose, polysaccharides, etc.). Empty capsules can be filled with powder, liquid and other drugs in doses, which are convenient for patients to swallow. Empty capsules not only protect the medicinal properties of drugs from being destroyed, but also protect the respiratory tract and digestive organs from irritation. As the demand for China pharmaceutical market continues to expand, the scale of China capsule industry continues to expand.
According to the "China Pharmaceutical Capsule Material Market Survey and Industry Analysis Report 2020-2024" released by the New Thinking Industry Research Center, empty capsules are one of the main pharmaceutical dosage forms, and empty capsules are important pharmaceutical excipients. In 2019, the scale of China empty capsule industry was approximately 3.2 billion yuan, maintaining a sustained growth trend. In China empty capsule industry, the main manufacturers include Shandong Healsee, Guangxi Yulin, Erkang Pharmaceutical, Suzhou Capsule, Chongqing Hengsheng, Shaoxing Kangke, Chengdu Aokang, etc., occupying a large share of the domestic market.
According to raw materials, empty capsules can be divided into two categories: gelatin capsules and vegetable capsules. Gelatin capsules are made of medicinal gelatin made from animal bones, skins and other raw materials plus auxiliary materials. It has good bio-availability and excellent solubility. It is the main type of capsule in the world at this stage. Vegetable capsules are made of plant cellulose or polysaccharide as raw materials, which are more natural, stable, and safe. At this stage, their market scale is smaller, but they are growing more rapidly, and their share is gradually expanding.
In China capsule industry, there are not only large-scale advanced production enterprises with fully automatic production lines, but also small and medium-sized enterprises with semi-automatic production lines and manual production. Among them, the products produced by small and medium-sized enterprises are cheap and occupy a certain position in the domestic market. The raw materials for the production of gelatin capsules are medicinal gelatin, which has a high cost. In order to reduce production costs, many small companies use cheap edible gelatin or even industrial gelatin, which poses a great threat to drug safety.The Chinese government has increasingly strict supervision over the pharmaceutical industry. Many small and medium-sized capsule companies with irregular production have been eliminated. However, there are still problematic capsules appearing in the market. In the future, the capsule industry will continue to reshuffle, with irregular production and unqualified products. Of enterprises will continue to be eliminated, and the vacated market will give large enterprises room for development. In the future, my country's capsule industry will increase in scale, and industry concentration will continue to increase.
New thinking circles industry analysts said that benefiting from the increase in national health awareness and consumption power, my country's pharmaceutical market demand continues to grow, and the pharmaceutical industry is developing well. Capsules have excellent medicinal effects, and the increasing number of drugs using capsules in my country has brought sufficient room for development in my country's capsule industry. In comparison, plant capsules have obvious advantages in terms of medicinal properties and product added value. They have become the development trend of the global capsule industry. China large capsule companies are also transforming into vegetarian capsules, and the future veggie capsule market prospects are broader.
