04. October 2018
Praziquantel is an antiparasitic drug used for decades. Currently, the praziquantel commercial preparation is a racemic mixture, inwhich only the levo-enantiomer possesses anthelmintic activity. The knowledge of its properties in the solid state and other chemical-physical properties is necessary for improving its efficacy andapplications. Drug solid dispersions were prepared with calcium carbonate at 1:5 drug to excipient weight ratio by solventevaporation method. Then, the modification of the...
02. October 2018
The production of 3D-printed drugs holds promise for future personalized medicine. Here, we prepared tablets containing naftopidil as a model drug using a semi-solid extrusion-type 3D bioprinter applicable for tissue engineering. A hydrogel is typically used as the printer ink for 3D bioprinters, and we incorporated various amounts of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose hydrogel (30%, 40% and 50% gel) into the printer ink. The resulting 3D-printed gel product was dried to obtain tablets. The...
25. August 2018
Solid dispersions (SDs) represent an important formulation technique to achieve supersaturation in gastro-intestinal fluids and to enhance absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs. Extensive research was leading to a rather good understanding of SDs in the dry state, whereas the complex interactions in aqueous medium are still challenging to analyze. This paper introduces a fluorescence quenching approach together with size-exclusion chromatography to study drug and polymer interactions that...
20. August 2018
Material properties are known to have a significant impact on pharmaceutical manufacturing performance, particularly for solid product processes. Evaluating the performance of a specific material, for example an active pharmaceutical ingredient or excipient, is critical during development stages in order to determine the impact of material properties on the process. However, materials may be scarce during the early stages of process development due to high cost, unavailability, import...
17. August 2018
In current study a holistic material characterization approach was proposed and an extensive raw material property database was developed including a wide variety of APIs and excipients with different functionalities. In total 55 different materials were characterized and described by over 100 raw material descriptors related to particle size and shape distribution, specific surface area, bulk, tapped and true density, compressibility, electrostatic charge, moisture content, hygroscopicity,...
24. April 2017
Abstract Reducing the promiscuous tropism of native adenovirus by using fiberless adenovirus is advantageous towards its use as a gene therapy vector or vaccine component. The removal of the fiber protein on native adenovirus abrogates several undesirable interactions; however, this approach decreases the particle’s physical stability. In order to create stable fiberless adenovirus for pharmaceutical use, the effects of temperature and pH on the particle’s stability profile must be...
12. March 2017
Abstract Novel excipients are entering the market to enhance the bioavailability of drug particles by having a high porosity and thus providing a rapid liquid uptake and disintegration to accelerate subsequent drug dissolution. One example of such a novel excipient is functionalised calcium carbonate (FCC), which enables the manufacture of compacts with a bimodal pore size distribution consisting of larger inter-particle and fine intra-particle pores. Five sets of FCC tablets with a target...
06. March 2017
Abstract Orally disintegrating films (ODF) has recently become one of the most popular forms of drug administration due to its excellent patient convenience and compliance. The main advantage of the dosage form arises from rapid disintegration: it can be placed on the tongue without the need of water. Compared to conventional oral dosage forms, ODFs usually result in enhanced bioavailability with faster onset of action. In addition, ODFs are flexible. Unlikely to orally disintegrating tablets,...
20. February 2017
Abstract The overall objective of this work is to understand how excipient characteristics influence the process and product performance for a continuous twin-screw wet granulation process. The knowledge gained through this study is intended to be used for a Quality by Design (QbD)-based formulation design approach and formulation optimization. A total of 9 preferred fillers and 9 preferred binders were selected for this study. The selected fillers and binders were extensively characterized...
06. November 2016
Abstract The controlled delivery of drugs can be effectively obtained using systems based on hydrogels. Tablets, to be orally administered, represent the simplest and the most traditional dosage systems based on hydrogel. Their formulation and preparation require to mix and to compress, in proper ratios, various excipients, including a swellable polymer and a drug. Carriers for controlled release systems are usually cross-linked polymers able to form hydrogels that show peculiar release...