At QPharma, we have experience with a wide range of different injection moulding processes and scales. We can injection mould most materials, including silicone and thermoplastics, with or without API. Injection moulding of products containing API(s) often requires the use of low processing temperatures. In other products the presence of API can result in unfavorable properties of the material to be injection moulded. Our moulding experts will work together with our formulation experts to find the best solution. In some cases the best way forward is to engineer a special mould to compensate for non-ideal material properties and/or process restrictions.

We can injection mould from the first small technical trials, using manual moulding techniques to save time and materials. Small-scale injection moulding can be performed in a non-cGMP environment or in accordance with cGMP. The injection moulding process has many attributes that can be kept constant following scale-up from initial small-scale technical trials, while other parameters may still require optimization before “locking the process” for commercial production at the clinical development phase.

Sometimes the challenge is to design a product that can be efficiently injection moulded and therefore be suitable for commercial production. For example, the product shape should be suitable for moulding, it may be necessary to combine materials in co-injection moulding, or surface treatment of the mould may be required. We have in-house expertise in mould design and work together with closely situated experts in mould manufacture and surface treatment of moulds.

Silicone matrix rings are a popular format for vaginal rings due to their simple design. Even so, there are often challenges to solve due to special requirements of the API or when optimizing the process to ensure that it is both efficient and economical. The complexities of mixing the API into the silicone should also not be underestimated. This can be performed by different processes, e.g. continuous dynamic mixing or batch-wise mechanical reactor. Together we can choose the most advantageous solution for your product.