dsm-firmenich launches ModulaSENSE® Bitter – a novel taste modulation technology to enhance drug palatability

dsm-firmenich – a leading innovator in nutrition, health, and beauty – announces the launch of a new technology, ModulaSENSE® Bitter, designed to help pharmaceutical companies improve the taste of drugs and increase patient adherence. This new technology addresses the growing challenge of bitterness in active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), helping drug formulators to create more patient-friendly oral medicines.

ModulaSENSE® Bitter is designed to tackle the challenge of poor taste in drug formulations, which remains a significant issue, with more than 60% of APIs considered intrinsically bitter.¹ The novel technology addresses these challenges through proprietary receptor-based methods and expert sensory validation, providing formulators with novel insights into how compounds interact with bitter taste receptors to guide formulation-specific bitterness management strategies.

ModulaSENSE® Bitter combines bitter blockers, maskers, and sweeteners with evidence-based insights from dsm-firmenich’s trained sensory panels to improve overall flavor balance. It can be applied across a wide range of oral dosage forms – including solid, liquid, and semi-solid formulations – and each solution is accompanied by structured sensory evaluation and a comprehensive technical documentation and regulatory package. 

Carlos Almasqué, Global Marketing Director for Pharma Excipients at dsm-firmenich, comments: “We are proud to introduce ModulaSENSE® Bitter to our customers and provide them with a new tool to overcome bitterness in oral dosage forms. Improving the palatability of medicines is essential for elevating patient adherence to treatment regimens. Our new technology directly addresses this issue with a more targeted approach, allowing our customers to develop market-ready medicines designed with the patient in mind.”

Dr. Pierre-Louis Bardonnet, Global Technical Business Development Manager for Pharma at dsm-firmenich, adds: “Behind this innovation is the global expertise of dsm-firmenich’s diligent pharmaceutical and taste teams. We work closely with our customers from early formulation design to regulatory preparation, helping them to overcome complex formulation challenges and develop medicines that meet both patient and industry expectations.”

For more information about ModulaSENSE® Bitter and dsm-firmenich’s pharmaceutical taste solutions, please visit www.dsm-firmenich.com/pharma-taste-solutions.

About dsm-firmenich

As innovators in nutrition, health, and beauty, dsm-firmenich reinvents, manufactures, and combines vital nutrients, flavors, and fragrances for the world’s growing population to thrive. With our comprehensive range of solutions, with natural and renewable ingredients and renowned science and technology capabilities, we work to create what is essential for life, desirable for consumers, and more sustainable for the planet. dsm-firmenich is a Swiss-Dutch company, with dual headquarters in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland and Maastricht, Netherlands, listed on the Euronext Amsterdam, with operations in almost 60 countries and revenues of more than €12 billion. With a diverse, worldwide team of nearly 30,000 employees, we bring progress to life™ every day, everywhere, for billions of people.