IPEC-Americas is the chief organization for excipient producers in the United States and fulfills a major educational and advisory role, especially with regard to excipient regulations and safety concerns. Its sister organizations perform similar functions in Europe and Japan. The principal classifications, including a brief definition of their characteristics and some examples of each, follows below. Binders are used to cement the active and inert components of tablets together to maintain cohesive and discrete portions. These are especially important in the production of time-release products.
Binders provide the matrix from which the drug is gradually secreted.
Typical binders include the cellulosics and starch. Disintegrants help the tablets break up within the gastrointestinal track to ensure full release of the pharmaceutically active material. Microcrystalline cellulose is one such disintegrant. Lubricants ease the release of stamped tablets from their dies, improving the efficiency of manufacturing. Magnesium stearate is one example.