GRANULES
Orally disintegrating granules (ODG) score highly in regard to ‘opening the packaging’ and ‘integration into everyday routine’.
They
are already available for allergy and pain relief. In addition to those
ODGs suitable for adults, singular paediatric 4mg granules are suitable
for children aged 6 months to 5 years. The granules can either be given
directly into a child's mouth, or mixed with a spoonful of cold or
room-temperature soft food (eg apple sauce, ice cream, carrots or rice).
They can be taken either with or without food, increasing their
popularity from those looking for easy administration.
CAPSULES
Liquid-fill
formulation is one of the fastest growing sectors of the drug delivery
market, increasing at a rate of 30% per annum.
This
is due to the number of highly potent chemical and biological drugs
moving through development pipelines today – particularly for cancer
treatments – but in fact, encapsulated products, such as fish oils, have
long been popular as vitamin, health and performance supplements.
Unlike
many other forms, capsules mask taste and odour and allow for quick
speed-to-market, yet they require less excipient. Their versatility
allows for a multiplicity of branding options in terms of colour, size
and printing/graphics. And of course, they are smooth, easy-to-swallow
and are suitable for almost any dosage strength.
Creating
families, grouping by common properties: if Mendeleev managed to do it
for the elements, then why not collate the range of Stable Micro Systems
products into the instantly recognisable form of a periodic table?
Here
you will see how all the currently available probes and fixtures that can be attached to
a Texture Analyser can be grouped by test principle: Cutting &
Shearing, Puncture & Penetration, Friction, Extrusion, Tension, Peel
& Adhesion, Compression – plus Special Attachments and Accessories.
PASTILLES/LOZENGES
While
altering oral tablets to create formulations suitable for children has
long been a part of paediatric healthcare, it is clearly a less than
ideal option.
Pastilles/Lozenges
represent oral medical preparations consisting of sugar and gum that
have solidified and are meant to be consumed by light chewing and
allowing them to dissolve in the mouth. This makes them a popular choice
for children, as they are easy to ingest and integrate into daily
routines. In addition, they are simple to formulate, with interesting
flavours, and their texture is more appealing to this age category for
trouble-free administration. They are usually used to medicate the mouth
and throat and for the slow administration of vitamins, indigestion or
cough remedies.
FILMS
Thin-film
drug delivery has emerged as an advanced alternative to the traditional
tablets, capsules and liquids often associated with prescription and
OTC medications.
Similar
in size, shape and thickness to a postage stamp, thin-film strips are
typically prepared using hydrophilic polymers for oral administration,
with the user placing the strip on or under the tongue or along the
inside of the cheek where saliva serves to rapidly dissolve the dosage
form.
This
drug delivery option also allows the medication to bypass the first
pass metabolism, thereby giving the medication significantly more
bioavailability than conventional tablet dosage forms. Films alleviate
the danger/fear of choking, are easy to handle and administer, have a
pleasant mouthfeel and taste and are straightforward to manufacture.
They offer the combined advantages of ease and convenience of dosing in
the absence of water, anytime, anywhere.
FAST-DISINTEGRATING TABLETS
Coming up with novel ways to deliver drugs is key to maintaining profitability.
One
approach is to use technologies such as mouth-dissolving tablets or
wafers, also known as fast melt, fast dissolving or orodispersible.
The
demand for solid dosage forms that can be dissolved/suspended in water,
chewed or rapidly dissolved in the mouth is particularly strong in the
paediatric and geriatric markets, with further application to other
patients who prefer the convenience of a readily administered dosage
form.
Testing the alternatives to traditional tablet-form medications
Oral
drug delivery represents the largest share of the pharmaceutical
market, accounting for approximately 90% of all medicines prescribed.
The
oral route remains the perfect one for the administration of
therapeutic agents, due to the general simplicity and cost-effectiveness
of the therapy, the accuracy of dosing, the avoidance of pain and the
ability to self-medicate. Whilst it is considered the most traditional
and easiest route of delivery, it is – perhaps surprisingly – not always
the most user-friendly, for a number of reasons.
With
four out of five pet owners considering their pet a member of the
family and 79% saying the quality of their pet’s food is as important as
their own, it’s not surprising that the premium sector accounts for 40%
of the $26 billion US pet food market (whilst super-premium accounted
for 10%). Globally the pet care products market is worth almost $100
billion.
Adding
excitement to a pet’s diet via flavours, gravies, look-a-like human
recipes, daypart foods (e.g. breakfast food/eggs or appetisers) is a top
driver of the best-selling new pet foods. Pet foods are also touting
more exotic meats (e.g. wild game, boar, venison, pheasant) and fillets
of fish. The majority of “pet parents” are looking for “all natural” and
“real meat” whilst eliminating grains, gluten, hormones/antibiotics and
artificial colours are other significant trends along with the
requirement for “human grade” and “indoor formulations are fast-growing
market niches.
GRANULES
