TABLET
Abbott Laboratories’s Kaletra HIV retroviral tablets was approved by the FDA for once-daily dosing in April 2010.
USA-based Foster Delivery Science, a leading pharmaceutical contract research and manufacturing provider in the field of hot melt extrusion, has been awarded a manufacturer’s technical assistance program (MTAP) grant from the University of Connecticut for development of novel processes to improve manufacturability and absorption of poorly water soluble drugs in the body. MTAP is part of an investment by the state of Connecticut in the University Technology Park aimed at supporting manufacturing innovation in the state.
Many newly discovered pharmaceutical ingredients are poorly water soluble and result in low absorption rates in the body. Foster’s hot melt extrusion technology enhances bioavailability through melt dispersion of active pharmaceutical ingredients in a polymer matrix. The resulting drug/polymer matrix is then ground into powder form and pressed into tablets.
Foster and the University of Connecticut will collaborate to develop continuous injection moulding of the tablets from the drug/polymer matrix form, eliminating the powder grinding process. In addition Foster and the University of Connecticut intend to explore foaming technology to reduce density and increase porosity of the moulded tablets in an effort to further enhance the body’s absorption of drugs.
“Roughly half of the new drugs discovered are poorly soluble and require special processing, such as hot melt extrusion, for drug delivery dose forms,” said Tony Listro, managing director at Foster Delivery Science. “By combining our expertise in hot melt extrusion and the polymer processing resources at University of Connecticut we believe we can make meaningful advancements in manufacturing and performance of formulations involving poorly water soluble drugs.”
Extrusion of polymers and drugs was covered in the July-August 2012 edition of Medical Plastics News. Here is a direct link to the article.