The HP Pharma Black CB935A Inkjet Print Cartridge is being targeted at the pharmaceutical industry as it has been specifically made for printing branding, dosage, and security information on individual capsules and tablets.

It comes in 20ml self-contained cartridges and can print at speeds of up to 500 feet per minute at 150dpi.

It can also produce high-quality 600dpi imaging for precise, uniform printing of variable data, barcodes and logos on a variety of dosage-form shapes.

In healthcare environments, the use of 1-D and 2-D barcodes on tables and capsules can provide an additional level of product security and customer safety when used in an overall programme of dosage monitoring and verification.

Pharma Black complements HP's existing thermal inkjet (TIJ) technologies for the coding and marking of pharmaceutical packaging. These technologies are complementary to the comprehensive HP Product Tracking and Authentication offerings for supply-chain management.

The new cartridge is one of the products being shown by HP Speciality Printing Systems at the Interpack 2008 exhibition in Düsseldorf.

Other products on show include solutions for primary package coding and marking on folding cartons and other substrates, and secondary package coding and marking for the pharmaceutical industry.

Kathy Tobin, vice-president and general manager of HP Specialty Printing Systems, said: "With more than 20 years of digital printing to HP's credit, our inkjet expertise enables us to break new ground in tablet and capsule imprinting.

"With this solution, HP sets a new standard by reducing costs, meeting expanding market needs and enabling solutions that exceed heightened security requirements."