Hot-melt co-extrusion: requirements, challenges and opportunities for pharmaceutical applications.

OBJECTIVES: Co-extrusion implies the simultaneous hot-melt extrusion of two or more materials through the same die, creating a multi-layered extrudate. It is an innovative continuous production technology that offers numerous advantages over traditional pharmaceutical processing techniques. This review provides an overview of the co-extrusion equipment, material requirements and medical and pharmaceutical applications. KEY FINDINGS: The co-extrusion equipment needed for pharmaceutical production has been summarized. Because the geometrical design of the die dictates the shape of the final product, different die types have been discussed. As one of the major challenges at the moment is shaping the final product in a continuous way, an overview of downstream solutions for processing co-extrudates into drug products is provided. Layer adhesion, extrusion temperature and viscosity matching are pointed out as most important requirements for material selection. Examples of medical and pharmaceutical applications are presented and some recent findings considering the production of oral drug delivery systems have been summarized. SUMMARY: Co-extrusion provides great potential for the continuous production of fixed-dose combination products which are gaining importance in pharmaceutical industry. There are still some barriers to the implementation of co-extrusion in the pharmaceutical industry. The optimization of downstream processing remains a point of attention.

Development of injection moulded matrix tablets based on mixtures of ethylcellulose and low-substituted hydroxypropylcellulose.

The objective of this study was to produce sustained-release matrix tablets by means of injection moulding and to evaluate the influence of matrix composition, process temperature and viscosity grade of ethylcellulose on processability and drug release by means of a statistical design. The matrix tablets were physico-chemically characterized and the drug release mechanism and kinetics were studied. Formulations containing metoprolol tartrate (30%, model drug), ethylcellulose with dibutylsebacate (matrix former and plasticizer) and L-HPC were extruded and subsequently injection moulded into tablets (375mg, 10mm diameter, convex-shaped) at different temperatures (110, 120 and 130 degrees C). Dissolution tests were performed and tablets were characterized by means of DSC, X-ray powder diffraction studies, X-ray tomography, porosity and hardness. Tablets containing 30% metoprolol and 70% ethylcellulose (EC 4cps) showed an incomplete drug release within 24h (<50%). Formulations containing L-HPC and EC in a ratio of 20/50 and 27.5/42.5 resulted in nearly zero-order drug release, while the drug release rate was not constant when 35% L-HPC was included. Processing of these formulations was possible at all temperatures, but at higher processing temperatures the drug release rate decreased and tablet hardness increased. Higher viscosity grades of EC resulted in a faster drug release and a higher tablet hardness. The statistical design confirmed a significant influence of the EC and L-HPC concentration on drug release, while the processing temperature and EC viscosity grade did not affect drug release. Tablet porosity was low (<5%), independent of the formulation and process conditions. DSC and XRD demonstrated the formation of a solid dispersion. The hydration front in the tablets during dissolution was visualized by dynamic X-ray tomography, this technique also revealed an anisotropic pore structure through the tablet.

Mixture design applied to optimize a directly compressible powder produced via cospray drying.

Coprocessing via spray drying was applied to improve the compactability of acetaminophen and to select an optimal formulation. Four-component mixtures containing acetaminophen, mannitol, erythritol, and maltodextrin were produced by cospray drying. A D-optimal mixture design was constructed to evaluate the spray dried powder and tablet properties. An increasing mannitol and erythritol content improved powder flowability and density. However, a higher erythritol concentration in the spray dried powder mixture had a negative influence on tablet tensile strength and friability. A higher maltodextrin content increased tablet tensile strength and improved tablet friability, while disintegration time, average particle size, powder flowability, density, and hygroscopicity were negatively influenced.