Development of Pediatric Orodispersible Tablets Based on Efavirenz as a New Therapeutic Alternative.

BACKGROUND: Efavirenz is the most used medication in the treatment of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The limited number of pediatric antiretroviral formulations approved by regulatory agencies is the most significant obstacle to adequate and efficient pharmacotherapy for this group of patients. The efavirenz has excellent therapeutic potential, but has low aqueous solubility/bioavailability. METHODS: To minimize these limitations, multicomponent systems with ß-cyclodextrin and polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30 were obtained. Due to the limited number of pediatric antiretroviral formulations, the development of a pediatric orodispersible tablet is an alternative that is thought easy to administer, since it disintegrates rapidly in the oral cavity. The multicomponent systems were obtained by the method of kneading and characterized by solubility test, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and infrared absorption spectroscopy by Fourier transform. The orodispersible tablets were prepared by direct compression. The quality control of hardness, friability, disintegration, and dissolution was performed. The influence of the components of the formulation on the characteristics of the tablets was evaluated through a 22 factorial design added with three central points, to compare the effect of the dependent variables on the responses. RESULTS: An increase in drug solubility was observed, with a decrease in crystallinity. Besides that, an excellent dissolution profile presented with more than 83% of the drug's content dissolved in less than 15 minutes. Satisfactory disintegration time and friability were observed. CONCLUSION: It was observed that reduced concentrations of mannitol decreased the hardness and disintegration time of the formulations. The orodispersible tablet composed of efavirenz: ß- cyclodextrin: polyvinylpyrrolidone, favors greater absorption and bioavailability. It has several advantages for pediatric patients, as the dosage form disintegrates quickly in the mouth and does not require water for administration, thereby improving patient compliance with the treatment.

Multicomponent systems with cyclodextrins and hydrophilic polymers for the delivery of Efavirenz.

Efavirenz (EFZ) is one of the most used drugs in the treatment of AIDS and is the first antiretroviral choice. However, since it has low solubility, it does not exhibit suitable bioavailability, which interferes with its therapeutic action and is classified as a class II drug according Biopharmaceutical Classification System (low solubility and high permeability). Among several drug delivery systems, the multicomponent systems with cyclodextrins and hydrophilic polymers are a promising alternative for increasing the aqueous solubility of the drug. The present study aimed to develop and characterize in a ternary system of EFZ, MßCD and PVP K30. The results showed that the solid ternary system provided a large increase in the dissolution rate which was greater than 80% and was characterized by DSC, TG, XRD, FT-IR and SEM. The use of the ternary system (EFZ, MßCD and PVP K30 1%) proved to be a viable, effective and safe delivery of the drug. The addition of the hydrophilic polymer appeared to be suitable for the development of a solid oral pharmaceutical product, with possible industrial scale-up and with low concentration of CDs (cyclodextrins).