Page 11 - 76_04

VOL. 76 (4), 459-478, 2010 INNOVATION VS. TRADITION: THE ELECTION…

for dealing with large-scale elaborations. The North American phar-
macist, Frederick A. Hubel was probably, the first to prepare, around
1874, hard gelatine capsules on wholesale scale using a mechanical
device, manufactured by himself, which would be subject to succes-
sive improvements until finalising in the first patent for an apparatus
of this type (1877). The period 1877-1883 was the most fertile time as
regard to patents for capsule making machines, and the years imme-
diately following these are those of final consolidation of the great in-
dustry of hard gelatine capsules (23, 24). At the beginnings of the 20th
century machinery had already displaced the manual worker. There
were those who gave ‘objective’ reasons for choosing mechanical pro-
cedures in detriment of the artisan, based on criteria of uniformity,
appearance, solubility, stability and profitability. The success of the
procedures for manufacturing hard gelatine capsules among the main
drug industries resides on the suitability of the different stages that
this type involves and the technological possibilities of the machinery
used. The great achievement is separating the phases obtained by the
capsular support and the closed filling in two totally independent in-
dustrialised processes. Given the difficulty of agglutinating these op-
erations in the same machine, it was decided to give the elaboration
of empty capsules to firms specialised in this matter.

3. THE TRADITION:
THE EUROPEAN-MEDITERRANEAN-MODEL

The fragility of the French chemical pharmaceutical industry com-
pared with that of Germany was evident, mainly in reference to or-
ganic chemistry. On the reverse, both the inorganic chemistry indus-
try as well as that relative to pharmaceutical specialities were perfectly
competitive, and on occasion, free. As we have commented, the sci-
entific and commercial imbalance of Germany in the drugs sector was
constructed on approaches of global chemical development, quite the
contrary to the French case, where the drug industry held its own
identity. The global results gave an advantage to Germany, making it
capable of invading the world with new active pharmacological mol-
ecules and, the ability to adapt these industrial formats, both classic
and modern. The experience and tradition of French pharmacy only
gave it a certain chance in the market of finished products and in

467