caplet

Caplet is a type of solid oral dosage form used to deliver medications and dietary supplements. It is a capsule-shaped tablet, typically oval with rounded ends, produced by compressing a powder blend of active ingredient and excipients into a hard, dense form that mirrors the shape of a capsule rather than a conventional tablet.

Caplets may be uncoated or coated with film, sugar, or enteric coatings. Coatings serve to mask taste, protect the drug from moisture, or modify release characteristics to influence where and how quickly the medicine dissolves in the digestive tract.

Compared with capsules, caplets do not use a gelatin shell. They rely on the tablet’s disintegration and dissolution to release the drug in the body. The capsule-like shape is often marketed as easier to swallow than some tablet forms, but swallowability varies among individuals and with the type of coating used.

Caplets are widely used for over-the-counter analgesics, vitamins, and other medicines. Common examples include acetaminophen caplets, ibuprofen caplets, and various multivitamin caplets.

In manufacturing, caplets are produced on tablet presses and must meet quality standards for weight uniformity, hardness, disintegration, and dissolution. The term caplet is descriptive and is not a strict regulatory category; some products sold as caplets may simply be elongated tablets rather than true capsules.