Tokai Capsule was established in 1968 when we first imported and introduced a fully automatic rotary encapsulation machine to Japan, and ever since we have been a leader in the soft capsule industry with our patented products and research and development. Today we operate ten encapsulation lines and have grown to be the largest manufacturer of pharmaceutical soft capsules in the industry.
We see a number of different types of pharmaceutical products that have distinctive attributes. Soft capsules offer various advantages such as the ability to encapsulate liquids, the ability to encapsulate compounds with insufficient water-solubility, maintain content uniformity of compounds that are active at trace amounts, higher absorption rate due to liquid phase inner fill material, and ability to mask strong odors and strong tastes for easy-to-take formulation. Their round shape and variety of sizes enable easier administration for both juvenile and geriatric patients.
An amendment in Japan's Pharmaceutical Affairs Law (PAL), which came into effect on April 1st, 2005, changed the Drug Application system to the Drug Manufacturing License Application system, which allows pharmaceutical products to be manufactured completely via outsourcing. This means there will be more outsourcing opportunities for pharmaceutical companies. Our advanced technology and state of the art facilities allow us to meet the requirements and high standards of GMP, GQP, and GVP.
As the impact of the rapidly aging population has led to an expansion for the market of generic medicines, expectations for soft capsule manufacturers has continued to grow.
Tokai Capsule encourages research collaboration as well as its own research and development of prescription and non-prescription drugs and to continue improving our manufacturing. Our Technical Research Laboratory, the first within the industry, has a role as an investigational drug product GMP plant for new drug development.
"Taking a role in the battle between humankind and illnesses by providing high quality, easy-to-take soft capsule formulation" is our corporate philosophy. As the leader in the soft capsule manufacturing industry, we take pride in as well as feel a strong sense of responsibility to move forward and continue to improve soft capsules.