In medicine, it refers to a capsule made of special film-forming materials (such as gelatin, cellulose, polysaccharides, etc.), and the contents (such as powder, liquid, etc.) or according to the dose are packed into it for easy swallowing. Drugs packed in capsules are generally powders or granules that are irritating to the esophagus and gastric mucosa, or have a bad taste, are easy to volatile, are easily decomposed by saliva in the mouth, and are easy to inhale into the trachea. These medicines are packed into capsules, which not only protect the properties of the drugs from being destroyed, but also protect the digestive organs and respiratory tract.

Softgels are a type of packaging for capsules, which are commonly used in pharmaceuticals or health foods. It is a kind of capsule made by treating liquid drugs or liquid solid drugs and sealing them in soft capsules. Soft capsules are made of gelatin, glycerin, or other suitable pharmaceutical excipients for capsules, either alone or in combination. Soft capsule refers to a capsule that directly encapsulates a certain amount of liquid drug, or dissolves or disperses a solid drug in a suitable excipient to make a solution, suspension, emulsion or semi-solid, sealed in a spherical or oval soft capsule.

With the increase of capsule varieties, in order to adapt to the filling of different types of contents, pharmaceutical companies have different requirements for the water content, brittleness and chemical stability of pharmaceutical hollow capsules, which makes the pharmaceutical hollow capsule industry continue to increase investment in the research and development of new capsules, such as non-animal-derived hollow capsules and sustained-release hollow capsules have become an important direction for the research and development of pharmaceutical excipients.