Rapid formulation screening with a Multipart Microscale Fluid bed Powder processor.

The aim of this study was to investigate early formulation screening in small scale with a miniaturized fluid bed device. Altogether eight different batches were granulated in a Multipart Microscale Fluid bed Powder processor (MMFP) with constant process conditions using electrostatic atomization. Atomization voltage and granulation liquid flow rate were kept constant. Acid acetylsalicylic was used as model active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), lactose monohydrate, microcrystalline cellulose and polyvinylpyrrolidone were used as excipients. Granule size distributions were measured with spatial filtering technique. Friability test was performed by spinning granules in the mixer with glass beads. Compressibility of the granules was evaluated by tableting and the breaking force of the tablets was measured. Multivariate analysis, namely partial least squares regression and multilinear regression were applied to the data. It was possible to generate granules of different compositions rapidly employing MMFP with electrostatic atomization fast and acquire reliable and logical results with only small amount of material. However, a major challenge was to find suitable analytical methods for such small batches.

Excipient selection can significantly affect solid-state phase transformation in formulation during wet granulation.

Phase transformations in formulations can lead to instability in physicochemical, biopharmaceutical, and processing properties of products. The influences of formulation design on the optimal dosage forms should be specified. The aim here was to investigate whether excipients with different water sorption behavior affect hydrate formation of nitrofurantoin in wet masses. Nitrofurantoin anhydrate was used as a hydrate-forming model drug, and 4 excipients with different water-absorbing potential (amorphous low-substituted hydroxypropylcellulose, modified maize starch, partially amorphous silicified microcrystalline cellulose, and crystalline alpha-lactose monohydrate) were granulated with varying amounts of purified water. Off-line evaluation of wet masses containing nitrofurantoin anhydrate and excipient (1:1) was performed using an X-ray powder diffractometer (XRPD) and near-infrared spectroscopy, and drying phase was evaluated by variable temperature XRPD. Only amorphous excipient in the formulation retarded hydrate formation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) at high water contents. Hygroscopic partially crystalline excipient hindered hydrate formation of API at low water contents. Crystalline excipient was unable to control hydrate formation of API. The character of excipient affects the stability of formulation. Thus, correct selection of excipients for the formulation can control processing-induced phase transitions and improve the storage stability of the final dosage form.

The tableting properties of melibiose monohydrate.

In this research, the tableting properties of α-melibiose monohydrate were studied. Melibiose is a disaccharide which bears structural resemblance to lactose, because they both consist of galactose and glucose monosaccharide subunits. Compactibility and deformation behavior of two melibiose batches from different suppliers were studied and compared with α-lactose monohydrate and some other typical tableting excipients. Differences in the deformation behavior were determined comparing the shape of the Heckel plots, the yield pressure values and the strain rate sensitivity (SRS) indexes. In addition, the effect of moisture on the tabletability was studied. According to the yield pressures and SRS indexes melibiose was concluded to be fragmenting, even at higher degree than lactose monohydrate. However, the overall deformation behavior of melibiose was found to be similar to that of lactose monohydrate. Increase in moisture content resulted in higher tensile strengths of tablets for both melibiose batches, but it seemed to have more effect on compactibility of the other batch. In conclusion, melibiose has potential to be used as an excipient in tablet formulations.

The effect of relative humidity on the physical properties of two melibiose monohydrate batches with differing particle size distributions and surface properties.

Melibiose monohydrate has shown promise when employed as a pharmaceutical excipient, but its physical properties have not been adequately characterized. Therefore, two different melibiose monohydrate batches were analyzed as received or after storage under different relative humidity (RH) atmospheres. The particle size distributions and specific surface areas of the two batches were shown to differ considerably, which also had an effect on their water sorption tendencies and on the intermolecular structure of melibiose after storage. The relatively large primary particles that were more abundant in one of the batches were shown to possess a porous surface structure, and water evaporation from them occurred in two phases when heated. Furthermore, storing the batch with smaller mean particle size under dry conditions affected the crystal structure and molecular vibrations of the sample more than in the case of the batch with larger mean particle size. It was concluded that the physical properties of melibiose monohydrate after storage at different RH atmospheres is largely governed by the primary particle size and porosity.

Phase transformation of erythromycin A dihydrate during fluid bed drying.

An in-line near infrared (NIR) spectrometer was employed to monitor phase transformations of erythromycin dihydrate during a miniaturized fluid bed drying process. The pellets, containing 50% (w/w) erythromycin dihydrate and 50% (w/w) microcrystalline cellulose, were dried at 30, 45, and 60 degrees C. Principal component analysis was used to determine solid-state changes. For this purpose the wavelength range of 1360-2000 nm was selected and preprocessed to remove multiplicative effects. Transformation to erythromycin dehydrate was observed for the pellets dried at 45 and 60 degrees C by NIR spectrometry and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD). The formation of erythromycin dehydrate was observed at a moisture content 1.4% (w/w) (mass of water per dry mass of sample) while at 1.8% (w/w) neither XRPD nor NIR were able to detect dehydration. Transformation to erythromycin dehydrate therefore depends strongly on the moisture content of the pellets.