pharmaceutical technology of basf excipients

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Volker Bühler

PharmaceuticalTechnologyof BASF ExcipientsVo

lker

Büh

ler

Volker BühlerPharmaceutical Technology of BASF Excipients

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EMP080601e-00

June

2008;S

upersedes

edition

ofApril2004;P

rintedinGermany

www.pharma-ingredients.basf.com

Volker Bühler

Pharmaceutical Technology of BASF Excipients

3rd revised edition June 2008

Contents Page

Foreword 6

1. Instant-release solid dosage forms (Tablets, pellets, granules)

1.1 Binders 9 1.1.1 General notes 9 1.1.2 Binders for wet granulation 9 1.1.3 Dry granulation (roller compaction) 14 1.1.4 Direct compression 16 1.1.5 Melt extrusion 201.2 Disintegrants for normal tablets 22 1.2.1 General notes 22 1.2.2 Standard disintegrant: Kollidon® CL 23 1.2.3 Special disintegrants: Kollidon® CL-F, Kollidon® CL-SF 261.3 Disintegrant for fast disintegrating buccal tablets 281.4 Enhancers of drug release 30 1.4.1 General notes 30 1.4.2 Povidone: Soluble Kollidon® grades 30 1.4.3 Crospovidone: Kollidon® CL grades 31 1.4.4 Poloxamers 32 1.4.5 Solubilizers: Cremophor® RH 40 331.5 Direct compression agents 34 1.5.1 General notes 34 1.5.2 Normal tablets with Ludipress® 34 1.5.3 Lozenges, chewable, effervescent and sustained-release

tablets with Ludipress® LCE 36 1.5.4 Fast disintegrating tablets with Ludiflash® 371.6 Instant-release and protective coatings of tablets and capsules 40 1.6.1 General notes 40 1.6.2 Instant-release film-coating with Kollicoat® IR 41 1.6.3 Instant-release film-coating with Kollicoat® IR White 45 1.6.4 Protective film-coating with Kollicoat® Protect 48 1.6.5 Instant-release film-coating with Kollidon® VA 64 52 1.6.6 Traditional sugar coating 53 1.6.7 Subcoatings of tablet cores 54 1.6.8 Taste masking by coatings of tablets 55 1.6.9 Taste masking by coatings of granules or crystals before

tabletting 571.7 Colorants (pigments) 58

2. Modified-release solid dosage formes (Tablets, pellets, granules)

2.1 Enteric film-coatings 63 2.1.1 General notes 63 2.1.2 Enteric film-coating of tablets and capsules 64 2.1.3 Enteric film-coating of pellets and crystals 66

2

2.2 Sustained-release pellets 68 2.2.1 Coating with Kollicoat® SR 30D 68 2.2.2 Coating with Kollicoat® EMM 30D 692.3 Sustained-release tablet 71 2.3.1 Direct compression with Kollidon® SR 71 2.3.2 Wet granulation and compression to matrix tablets 74 2.3.3 Compression of sustained-release pellets 80 2.3.4 Sustained-release film-coating of tablet cores with

Kollicoat® SR 30D 822.4 Plasticizers 86 2.4.1 Propylene glycol 86 2.4.2 Macrogols 872.5 Mucoadhesives for buccal tablets 88

3. Soft gelatin capsules

3.1 Carriers, solvents 913.2 Solubilizers 923.3 Antioxidants 933.4 Colorants 94

4. Solutions

4.1 Solubilization for oral and topical use 97 4.1.1 Surfactants: Cremophor® RH 40, Cremophor® EL 97 4.1.2 Complex formers: Kollidon® 25 and Kollidon® 30 100 4.1.3 Poloxamers: Lutrol® F68 and Lutrol® F127 1014.2 Solubilization for parenteral use 102 4.2.1 Complex formers: Kollidon® 12PF and Kollidon® 17PF 102 4.2.2 Surfactants: Solutol® HS15 and Cremophor® ELP 103 4.2.3 Poloxamers: Lutrol® F68 1044.3 Thickeners 105 4.3.1 High molecular povidone: Kollidon® 90 F 105 4.3.2 Poloxamer 407: Lutrol® F 127 1064.4 Solvents 107 4.4.1 Low molecular weight macrogols: Lutrol® E grades 107 4.4.2 Propylene glycol 1074.5 Taste masking agents 1084.6 Drug stabilizers for solutions 109 4.6.1 Stabilizers in injectables 109 4.6.2 Stabilizers in oral and topical solutions 110 4.6.3 D, L-alpha-Tocopherol as antioxidant 1114.7 Enhancers of bioavailability in injectables 1124.8 Film formers for topical aerosols 1134.9 Lyophilization agents 1144.10 Sustained-release agents in veterinary injectables 1154.11 Reduction of toxicity of active ingredients 116

3

5. Suspensions5.1 Sedimentation inhibitors for oral and topical use 119 5.1.1 Crospovidone: Kollidon® CL-M 119 5.1.2 Povidone: Kollidon® 90 F, Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® 25 122 5.1.3 Poloxamers: Lutrol® F 68, Lutrol® F 127 124 5.1.4 Surfactants: Cremophor® RH 40, Cremophor® EL 1255.2 Redispersing agents for oral and topical use 126 5.2.1 Crospovidone: Kollidon® CL-M 126 5.2.2 Povidone: Kollidon® 90 F, Kollidon® 30 1265.3 Sedimentation inhibitors and redispersing agents for injectables 128 5.3.1 Low molecular povidone: Kollidon® 12PF or Kollidon® 17PF 128 5.3.2 Surfactant: Solutol® HS15 1285.4 Crystallization inhibitors, solubilizers 129 5.4.1 Solvent: 1,2-Propylene glycol 129 5.4.2 Surfactants: Cremophor® RH 40, Cremophor® EL 130 5.4.3 Macrogols: Lutrol® E300, Lutrol® E400 1315.5 Taste masking agents 132 5.5.1 Crospovidone: Kollidon® CL-M 132 5.5.2 Poloxamers: Lutrol® F 68 1335.6 Stabilizer of active ingredients in instant granules and dry syrups 134

6. Semisolid dosage forms

6.1 Emulsifiers: Cremophor® A grades 1396.2 Gel forming agents: Lutrol® F 127 1406.3 Solubilizers: Cremophor® RH 40, Lutrol® F grades 1426.4 Absorption enhancers 144 6.4.1 Complex formers: Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30,

Kollidon® CL-M 144 6.4.2 Solvent: 1,2-Propylene glycol 146 6.4.3 Solubilizers: Cremophor® RH 40, Lutrol® F 68 1466.5 Solvents 147 6.5.1 Liquid macrogols: Lutrol® E grades 147 6.5.2 Propylene glycol 1486.6 Carriers for suppositories and ovulae 1506.7 Bioadhesives, film-forming agents for transdermal systems 151 6.7.1 Povidone and copovidone 151 6.7.2 Polyacrylate 151

7. Diagnostic products

7.1 Enzym stabilizers 155

8. List of BASF pharmaceutical excipients and their pharmacopoeial monographs 157

9. Alphabetical index 159

4

Foreword

This book describes the wide range of applications and functions of the excipients manufactured by BASF SE for the pharmaceutical industry. The spectrum of applications is remarkably broad, as can already be seen from the list of contents. It covers many fields of application in solid dosage forms such as instant-release and controlled-release tablets, applications in liquid dosage forms as solutions, suspensions and dry syrups, as well as many functions in semisolid dosage forms.

In addition to the applications given here, there are a number of minor speciality areas of lesser importance.

Details and descriptions of the BASF excipients can be found in the Tech- nical Informations for the products concerned and in the books “Kollidon®, Polyvinylpyrrolidone excipients for the pharmaceutical industry” and “Kollicoat® Grades, Functional Polymers for the Pharmaceutical Industry”. Both books are available on request at BASF SE.

Most of the formulations given here have been taken form the Generic Drug Formulations compendium also available on request.

The 3rd edition was actualized and revised by the inclusion of new excipients such as Kollicoat® IR grades, Kollidon® CL-F, Kollidon® CL-SF, Kollidon® VA 64 Fine and Ludiflash®, by the inclusion of new technologies such as melt extrusion and of several new formulations.

6

1. Instant-release solid dosage forms (Tablets, granules, pellets)

1.1 Binders

1.1.1 General notes

Among the most important binders for the manufacture of tablets, granules and pellets are povidone (e.g. Kollidon® 30) and copovidone (e.g. Kollidon® VA 64). They can be used in practically all the usual granulation and tabletting processes:

- Wet granulation- Dry granulation (roller compaction)- Melt extrusion- Direct compression

Kollicoat® IR would also be capable of acting as a binder in the wet granulation technology.

Direct compression excipients that contain a binder, such as Ludipress® grades or Ludiflash®‚ play an increasingly important role in the production of generic products.

The sustained-release matrix bases Kollidon® SR and Kollicoat® SR 30D also demonstrate strong binding properties in tablets.

1.1.2 Binders for wet granulation

Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® 90 F, Kollidon® VA 64

The three grades of povidone, Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30 and Kollidon® 90 F, as well as copovidone (Kollidon® VA 64) are very suitable for wet granulation, whether the granulation of the active ingredient with a binder solution or the granulation of a mixture of the active ingredient and binder with the solvent only (usually water). The most widely used methods of wet granulation are the following:

– Traditional mixer granulation and drying on hurdles– Mixer granulation with fluidized bed drying– Fluidized bed granulation– Extrusion

Quantities of 2–5% of the tablet weight are required in the case of Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30 and Kollidon® VA 64, but only 1–3 % in the case of Kollidon® 90 F. This difference is due to the higher molecular weight of Kollidon® 90 F which gives it greater binding power. The formulation for naproxen tablets in Table 1.1 is a typical example in which an active substance is granulated with a binder solution, but without a filler.

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Table 1.1: Naproxen Tablets (450 mg)

1. FormulationI. Naproxen (Syntex) 457.5 gII. Kollidon® 30 25.0 g Water 90.0 gIII. Magnesium stearate (Merck) 2.5 g Kollidon® CL 10.0 g

2. Procedure (binder solution granulation) Granulate mixture I with solution II pass through a 0.8 mm sieve,

add III and press to tablets with low compression force.

3. Tablet properties Weight 511 mg Diameter 12 mm Hardness 95 N Disintegration 3 min Friability 0.3 % Dissolution, pH 7.4 (10 min) 87 %

The formulation for gemfibrozil tablets is an example for solvent granulation (Table 1.2). It would be possible to replace the ethanol in this formulation with water, though the optimum quantity would have to be determined.

Particularly with solvent granulation, the quantity of solvent (e.g. water) strongly influences the properties of the tablets obtained. Also, the physical properties of the binder, in particular its particle structure and size, have a significant effect on the hardness of the tablets. This is illustrated in Fig. 1.1 for aminophylline tablets, the granules for which contained the same quantity of two different binders (6 g Kollidon® 30 and 6 g Kollidon® VA 64), but were made with different quantities of water. Until about 30 ml of water Kollidon® 30 is more sensitive to the amount of water used in granulation than Kollidon® VA 64. With the latter, adequate tablet hardness is obtained with relatively small quantities of liquid.

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Table 1.2: Gemfibrozil Tablets (600 mg)

1. FormulationI Gemfibrozil 600 g Corn starch 200 g Kollidon® CL 20 g Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 30 g Kollidon® VA 64 40 gII Ethanol 96 % (or water) about 72 gIII Kollidon® CL 20 g Macrogol 6000, powder 10 g Talc 40 g Magnesium stearate 8 g

2. Procedure (solvent granulation) Granulate mixture I with ethanol II, dry, pass through a 0.8 mm sieve

and mix with the components III. Press with high compression force (e.-g. 28 kN) to tablets

3. Tablet properties Weight 950 mg Diameter 16 mm Hardness 151 N Disintegration 2 min Friability 0.7 % Dissolution, USP (paddle), 10 min 70 % 20 min 84 %

Solvent granulation with Kollidon® VA 64 not only has the economic advan-tage that it is not necessary to dissolve the binder. It is particularly suitable if the capacity of the powder to be granulated is too small for the quantity of solvent that would be necessary to dissolve the binder.

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Kollidon® 30

Kollidon® VA64

Amount of water, ml

50

55

60

65

70

75

80Hardness, N

Aminophylline 100 g, Starch 100 g, Kollidon® 6 g, Mg stearate 1.5 g

12 14 18 22 26 30 34 38

Fig. 1.1: Solvent granulation: Influence of the amount of water on the hard-ness of aminophylline tablets

Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® 90 F and Kollidon® VA 64 can also be used to produce pellets and granules by wet granulation. The spheroni-zation of a verapamil drug pellet formulation is described in Table 1.3 as an example.

Table 1.3: Verapamil spheronized pellets (48 %)

1. FormulationI Verapamil HCI (BASF) 480 g Microcrystalline cellulose 300 g Kollidon® VA 64 20 g Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 25 g Talc 175 gII Water 400 g

2. Procedure Granulate the mixture (I) in a Diosna granulator with water (II) and

pass the moist granules through a sieve of 1.5 mm. Pelletize in a spheronizer at a speed of 300–400 rpm. Dry the pellets in a fluidized bed and pass over a 0.7 mm sieve to remove the fines.

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Kollicoat® IR in wet granulation

The instant-release film-coating polymer Kollicoat® IR (polyvinyl alcohol grafted onto polyethylene glycol, see Section 1.6.2) also can be used as an excellent binder in the wet granulation using a binder solution. This plastic polymer is very soluble in water and alcohol, does not form any peroxides during storage and gives good physical tablet properties. Particularly the plasticity of this binder is of strong interest.

In Table 1.4 the comparison of Kollicoat® IR with the strong binder Kollidon® 90 F is shown using a very sensitive and difficult formulation of 500 mg acetaminophen in a 610 mg tablet. Kollicoat® IR gave the hardest and best tablets. Kollidon® 30 did not work in this formulation and also in the case of Kollidon® 90 F a certain part of the tablets showed a capping effect. Due to its high plasticity Kollicoat® IR gave tablets without any capping. The granules produced with Kollidon® 90 F were coarser but newertheless the flowability of the granules of Kollicoat® IR was better.

Table 1.4: Acetaminophen tablets (500 mg) produced with Kollicoat® IR or Kollidon® 90F as binder

1. FormulationI. Acetaminophen crystals 500 mg Lactose monohydrate 50 mgII. Kollicoat® IR or Kollidon® 90F 24 mg Water q.s. III. Kollidon® CL 20 mg Magnesium stearate 6 mg

2. Procedure (wet granulation) Granulate the dry mixture I with the solution II, dry, mix with III and

press to tablets with high compression force (about 20 kN) on a rotary press

3. Tablet properties Kollicoat® IR Kollidon® 90F Weight 617 mg 603 mg Diameter 12 mm 12 mm Hardness 54 N 40 N Disintegration time 3 min 1 min Friability <0.1 % 2 % Proportion of capped 0 % 25 % tablets

A further formulation example with Kollicoat® IR as binder is shown in Section 1.3.

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1.1.3 Binders for dry granulation (roller compaction)

Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® VA 64, Kollidon® VA 64 Fine

Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® VA 64 and Kollidon® VA 64 Fine can also be used in compaction processes. The Kollidon® VA 64 grades are particularly suitable for this application because of their higher plasticity.

The quantities required are usually the same as those for wet granulation: 2 – 6 % weight, in the tablet. Table 1.5 shows a typical formulation with 4.7 % Kollidon® 30 for this application for a high-dose vitamin C tablet with ex-cellent physical properties in spite of the high active concentration.

Table 1.5: Vitamin C Tablets (500 mg) obtained by roller compaction with Kollidon® 30

1. FormulationI. Ascorbic acid powder (BASF) 500 mg Kollidon® 30 30 mgII. Sorbitol, crystalline 50 mg Macrogol 6000, powder 37 mg Orange flavour 3 mg Cyclamate sodium 10 mg

2. Procedure Pass mixture I through a roller compactor, mix with the components II

and press to tablets with low to medium compression force

3. Tablet properties Weight 640 mg Diameter 12 mm Hardness 120 N Disintegration 6–7 min Friability 0.1 %

Kollidon® VA 64 Fine was specially tailored for the application in roller com-paction and is the material of choice in terms of particle size distribution and particle shape for this application. Due to the particle size it is able to cover a big surface area and to form numerous bridges in the tablet structure that lead to hard tablets with a reduced friability.

The formulations of allopurinol granules and tablets shown in Tables 1.6 and 1.7 are typical examples for a formulation using this technique with about 3.5 % of Kollidon® VA 64 Fine in the final tablets.

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Table 1.6: Allopurinol granules obtained by roller compaction with Kollidon® VA 64 Fine

1. Formulation Allopurinol 100 g Ludipress® 50 g Kollidon® VA 64 Fine 10 g Kollidon® CL 6 g Magnesium stearate 1 g

2. Compaction conditions Roller compactor Gerteis Type Mini-Pactor M1114 Roll width 25 mm Compression force 2 kN/cm Gap width 3 mm Tamping/feeding ration 120 % Roll speed 2 rpm Mesh sizes 1.25 mm

After the compaction process the obtained allopurinol granules of the formu-lation of Table 1.6 were blended for 10 minutes with the tabletting excipients Ludipress® and magnesium stearate mentioned in Table 1.7 and pressed to tablets of about 100 mg of active ingredient.

Table 1.7: Allopurinol tablets prepared with compacted allopurinol granules from Table 1.6

1. Formulation Allopurinol granules obtained by roller compaction 160 mg Ludipress® 120 mg Magnesium stearate 0.9 mg

2. Procedure (Direct compression) Mix the components and press with the compression force of about

16 kN on a rotary press to tablets of the following properties:

3. Tablet properties Diameter 8 mm Weight 281 mg Hardness 246 N Disintegration time 9 min Friability <0.1 %

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1.1.4 Binders for direct compression

Kollidon® VA 64, Kollidon® VA 64 Fine

Copovidone is widely used as a binder in direct compression. It has a higher plasticity than other binders, a low hygroscopicity, a low glass transi-tion temperature, and it gives hard tablets, making it the best dry binder available. Fig. 1.2 shows the comparison of the plasticity of different dry binders pressed to tablets with 0.5 % of magnesium stearate. It is interest-ing that not only the absolute plasticity is higher in the case of copovidone but also there is almost no influence of the compression force on the plas-ticity.

Pla

stic

ity

0.4HPMC11000

1.0

0.9

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.8

Compress. force 25 kN

Compress. force 18 kN

Microcryst.Cellulose

PovidoneK 30

Kollidon®

VA 64

Fig. 1.2: Plasticity of different dry binders mixed with 0.5% of magnesium stearate in tablets (Plasticity = plastic energy/total energy)

Kollidon® VA 64 grades have a more irregular particle structure than Kollidon® 25 or Kollidon® 30. The finer particle size of Kollidon® VA 64 Fine and the structure are the principal explanations why Kollidon® VA 64 grades give harder tablets in the direct compression that povidone (see Fig. 1.3) although in the binder solution granulation there is no difference.

Kollidon® VA 64 and Kollidon® VA 64 Fine can be used as dry binders together with all fillers and practically all active ingredients. A mixture with microcrystalline cellulose has been found to be a particularly effective combination. The usual concentration of Kollidon® VA 64 grades used in the direct compression of tablets is 2 – 8 %, though this can be increased considerably, as, unlike many other binders like povidone, its binding effect continues to increase with the concentration even beyond 5 %, which is reflected in the tablet hardness. Fig. 1.3 illustrates this effect in ascorbic acid tablets.

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Kollidon® VA 64 Kollidon® 30

Hardness, N

0 %

5 %

10 %

15 %

0 %

5 % 10 % 15 %

50

70

90

110

130

150

170

190

Fig. 1.3: influence of the dry binder concentration on the hardness of vitamin C tablets (40 % ascorbic acid pressed with Ludipress® + Kollidon®)

It is normally difficult to produce tablets with ascorbic acid by direct com-pression, but they can be produced much more readily using Kollidon® VA 64. When this dry binder is added, the hardness of the tablets increases and the friability decreases much more than after the addition of Kollidon® 30 or hypromellose which had no effect on the hardness in such formulation.

For the comparison of several dry binders including Kollidon® VA 64 Fine and hypromellose (HPMC) a formulation of acetylsalicylic acid tablets was used (Composition: acetylsalicylic acid 500 mg, microcrystalline celullose 200 mg, dry binder 60 mg, Kollidon® CL 25 mg, magnesium stearate 3 mg). Fig. 1.4 demonstrates that the dry binding effect of Kollidon® VA 64 Fine is much higher than the effect of all other binders including normal Kollidon® VA 64. The hardness of the tablets produced with Kollidon® VA 64 Fine was about the double in comparison with the hardness of the tablets obtained with povidone K30, hypromellose (HPMC) or hydroxpropyl cellulose (HPC).

17

Har

dne

ss, N

withoutBinder

Kollidon®

VA 64Kollidon®

VA 64 FinePovidoneK 30

hardness at 10 kN

hardness at 18 kN

hardness at 25 kN

HPMC6 mPas

HPC

200

150

125

100

75

50

25

0

175

21

48

71

21

58

88

24

59

82

38

82

102

35

86

64

145

199

107

Fig. 1.4: Hardness of acetylsalicylic acid tablets (500 mg) obtained by direct compression with different dry binders

The combination of Kollidon® VA 64 with sucrose and microcrystalline cellu-lose is mentioned for vitamin C chewable tablets in the commentary to the German Standard Generic Formulations („Standardzulassungen für Fertig- arzneimittel“ published by Deutscher Apothekerverlag, 1988).Table 1.8 shows the recommended formulation and the properties of these chewable tablets reproduced in the laboratory with the dosages of 100 mg, 500 mg and 1000 mg of ascorbic acid.

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Table 1.8: Vitamin C chewable tablets (100 mg, 500 mg, 1000 mg)

1. Formulations Ascorbic acid, powder 42.2 % Microcrystalline cellulose 28.3 % (e.g. Avicel® PH101, FMC) Sucrose, powder 13.0 % Sucrose, crystalline 8.0 % Kollidon® VA 64 2.4 % Cyclamate sodium 2.4 % Macrogol 6000, powder 2.0 % Orange flavour + strawberry flavour (2+1) 1.2 % Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 0.2 % Saccharin sodium 0.1 %

2. Procedure (direct compression) Pass all components through a 0.8 mm sieve, mix and press with

medium to high compression force.

3. Tablet properties Vitamin C content/tablet 100 mg 500 mg 1000 mg Weight 250 mg 1250 mg 2500 mg Diameter 8 mm 15 mm 20 mm Form biplanar biplanar biplanar Hardness 157 N >100 N >150 N Disintegration (water) 15 min >15 min 14 min Friability <-0.1 % 0.8 % 0.6 %

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1.1.5 Binders for melt extrusion

Kollidon® VA 64, Kollidon® VA 64 Fine, Kollidon® 30

The most important newer technology for the application of Kolldion® VA 64 or Kollidon® 30 as binder and matrix former is the melt extrusion. In this technology they also can be combined with surfactants. A drug containing Kollidon® VA 64 and the anti-HIV protease inhibitors lopinavir and ritonavir was the first co-formulated pharmaceutical compound to be successfully tabletted using a proprietary melt extrusion process. The melt extrusion appears to have overcome the poor solubility and negligible oral bioavail-ability of previous formulations of lopanavir/ritonavir. Similar results of dissolution increase were publishes with lacidipine and indomethacin melt extruded with copovidone.

A typical example of an estradiol tablet was taken from the literature. Table 1.9 shows the formulations of the granules obtained by melt extrusion and the final tablets produced with these granules. Kollidon® VA 64 grades have the advantage of their higher plasticity in comparison with other polymers like povidone or macrogol.

Table 1.9: Estradiol tablets produced by melt extrusion

1. Formulation of the granules (melt extrusion) 17ß-Estradiol hemihydrate 10.0 % Kollidon® VA 64 50.0 % Gelucire® 44/14 (Gattefossé) 40.0 %

2. Formulation of the tablets (direct compression) 17ß-Estradiol hemihydrate melt extruded granules 8.3 % Microcrystalline cellulose 45.6 % Corn starch 45.6 % Magnesium stearate 0.5 %

3. Tablet properties Content of 17ß-estradiol hemihydrate 2 mg Diameter 6 mm Dissolution of the granules see Fig. 1.5

Fig. 1.5 shows the almost 20-fold increase of the dissolution for the melt extruded 17ß-estradiol granules produced with Kollidon® VA 64. The disso-lution media was 0.1 N hydrochloric acid.

20

17ß-

Est

rad

iol d

isso

lved

, %

Time, min

Melt extruded granules with Kollidon® VA 64

17ß-Estradiol hemihydrate alone

402000

60503010

20

40

60

Fig. 1.5: Dissolution of 17ß-estradiol hemihydrate granules obtained by melt extrusion with Kollidon® VA 64

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1.2 Disintegrants for normal tablets

1.2.1 General notes

The crospovidone grades, Kollidon® CL, Kollidon® CL-F, Kollidon® CL-SF and Kollidon® CL-M differ mainly in their particle size. One of the possible methods for the determination of the particle size distribution is the laser light diffraction measurement (e.g. in a Malvern Mastersizer, Malvern Instru-ments). By this method the following typical values of the volume average diameter D[4.3] were found:

- Kollidon® CL: 90 – 130 µm- Kollidon® CL-F: 20 – 40 µm- Kollidon® CL-SF: 10 – 30 µm- Kollidon® CL-M: 3 – 10 µm

Kollidon® CL is the usual disintegrant for normal tablets, Kollidon® CL-F and Kollidon® CL-SF can be used as disintegrants for special cases and the micronized type Kollidon® CL-M is mainly applied as stabilizer in liquid dosage forms like suspensions, instant drink granules and dry syrups.

Crospovidone is referred to as one of the “super disintegrants” in the literature but it is also an excellent agent for the enhancement of the drug release (see Section 1.4.3). The Kollidon® CL grades can be used for all tabletting technologies like granulation, direct compression etc..

Table 1.10 gives a overview of the general properties and functions of the three Kollidon® CL grades normally used as disintegrants in tablets.

Table 1.10: Comparison of general properties of Kollidon® CL grades used as disintegrants

Product Disintegration Mouthfeel Smooth tablet Adsorption Drug power surface of granulation dissolution liquid

Kollidon® CL ++ – – +/– ++Kollidon® CL-F + + +/– + +Kollidon® CL-SF + ++ + ++ +/–

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1.2.2 Standard disintegrant

Kollidon® CL

Kollidon® CL is used as the standard disintegrant for all kind of different tablet formulations. Since many years the pharmaceutical industries know quite well the performance of the material. Main reasons for taking this disintegrant is the strongest disintegration power with benefits especially in large tablets. It has advantages compared to other disintegrants which are based on a different chemistry due to disintegration and dissolution speed.

The particle size of Kollidon® CL must be regarded as a compromise: although even coarser particles provide a slightly better disintegration effect than Kollidon® CL, the latter probably gives tablets whose surface finish is less affected by humidity than tablets made with a coarser crospovidone which does not contain the fine fraction that makes up the major portion of Kollidon® CL. But it must be stated that the differences of few minutes of the disintegration time of a tablet normally have no significant influence on the dissolution of the active ingredient.

In the wet granulation process, Kollidon® CL can be incorporated after granulation, or in the intragranular use, as its swelling action is completely reversible. In difficult cases, it is recommended to add some of the Kollidon® CL before granulation, and some after. This has been done with the formu-lation of a gemfibrozil tablet shown in Table 1.2, as the active substance has a relatively low melting point and can therefore sinter together on com-pression. If part of the Kollidon® CL were not added before granulation, the disintegration time of the resulting tablets would be much longer.

Obviously, Kollidon® CL is also very suitable for use in formulations for direct compression. Typical examples are those for a piroxicam tablet in Table 1.11 and an acetylsalicylic acid tablet in Fig. 1.6.

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Table 1.11: Piroxicam tablets (20 mg)

1. Formulations Piroxicam 20 g Corn starch 150 g Ludipress® 50 g Kollidon® CL 8 g Macrogol 6000, powder 10 g Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 1 – 2 g

2. Procedure (direct compression) Mix all components, pass through a 0.8 mm sieve and press with low

to medium compression force.

3. Tablet properties Weight 238 mg Diameter 8 mm Form biplanar Hardness 66 N Disintegration (water) 57 sec Friability 0.1 %

The rapid disintegration of a tablet is by no means a guarantee that the active substance is dissolved and made bioavailable quickly. Thus, the drug disso-lution is a much more important criterion than its disintegration time. Kollidon® CL is often very effective in this respect, as can be seen from Fig. 1.6 which contains data for acetylsalicylic acid tablets made by direct compression. Although both tablets, with and without Kollidon® CL, disintegrate within about 4 minutes, the difference in drug release remain considerable even after 60 minutes.

Table 1.12 and also Fig. 1.7 in the next Section 1.2.3 show the comparison of disintegration and dissolution of analgesic tablets caused by Kollidon® CL grades and other disintegrants.

24

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Time, min

Dissolved drug, %

Without Kollidon® CL

+ 3 % Kollidon® CL

Disintegration time of both formulations: max. 4 min

0

20

40

60

80

100

Fig. 1.6: Influence of Kollidon® CL on the dissolution of acetylsalicylic acid tablets (Acetylsalicylic acid 400 mg, Ludipress® 99 mg, stearic acid 1 mg)

The direct compression agent Ludipress® contains 3.5% Kollidon® CL. Therefore usually it also acts as a disintegrant. The disintegrant effect is adequate, if the content of Ludipress® in the tablet is high enough. However, if tablets made with Ludipress® are found to disintegrate too slowly, it is recommended to add Kollidon® CL to the formulation. Such a formulation for acetylsalicylic acid tablets is given in Fig. 1.6.

25

1.2.3 Special disintegrants

Kollidon® CL-F, Kollidon® CL-SF

Kollidon® CL-F has a strong disintegration power although the particles are finer compared with Kollidon® CL. Tablets containing Kollidon® CL-F do not tend to form rough surfaces after storage under humid conditions. Therefore it is a perfect alternative to Kollidon® CL when formulators are looking for a disintegrant with short disintegration time and fast dissolution in combina-tion with a smooth tablet surface. With Kollidon® CL rough surfaced tablets might occur with very hygroscopic formulations packed in a multidose packaging. This sensitivity increases with a decreased size of the tablet. As a consequence Kollidon® CL-F (or Kollidon® CL-SF) should be taken for the development of small tablets. Furthermore Kollidon® CL-F and even more Kollidon® CL-SF are able to adsorb large amounts of liquid (see Table 1.10). This behaviour can be beneficial when large amounts of granulation liquid have to be used for wet granulation (e.g. for dissolving the active ingredient in the granulation solvent).Table 1.12 and Fig. 1.7 show the comparison of the three Kollidon® CL grades normally used as disintegrants with other substances like croscarm-ellose or carboxymethyl starch in two different analgesic tablets. In both formulations the disintegration and the drug dissolution is faster using Kollidon® CL grades.

Table 1.12: Comparison of disintegrants in analgesic tablets

1. CompositionI. Acetaminophen cryst. 250 mg Acetylsalicylic acid cryst. 250 mg Caffeine cryst. 50 mgII. Kollidon® 90 F (dissolved in 2-propanol) 17 mgIII. Magnesium stearate 5 mg Disintegrant 27 mg

2. Procedure (wet granulation) Granulate Mixture I with Solution II, sieve through a 1000 µm

sieve, dry and mix 10 min with III and press on a rotary tablet press with a high compression force of 18 kN.

3. Disintegration times of the tablets in synthetic gastric juice Disintegrant Min None > 60 Kollidon® CL 9 Kollidon® CL-F 11 Kollidon® CL-SF 9 Croscarmellose 23 Carboxymethyl starch 34

26

Apart from the enhancement of the tablet disintegration it is even more important that the dissolution of the active ingredient is increased as well to achieve a fast resorption of the drug. Fig. 1.7 shows an example of dissolution data of an acetaminophen tablet with 2.7 % of different disinte-grants including three Kollidon® CL grades. In some formulations there is no significant difference of the dissolution between the disintegrants, in other formulations the difference is strong. But allways the increase of the dissolution in comparison with the tablets without disintegrant is enormous.

Ace

tam

inop

hen

dis

solv

ed, %

Time, min

Kollidon® CL

Kollidon® CL-F

Kollidon® CL-SF

Croscarmellose

Caroxymethyl starch

402000

60503010

20

40

60

80

100

Fig. 1.7: Dissolution of an acetaminophen tablet (2.7 % disintegrant)

27

1.3 Disintegrant for fast disintegrating buccal tablets

Kollidon® CL-SF

Kollidon® CL-SF is the finest crospovidone grade for disintegration and it has a good disintegration power and less surface defects of the tablets after humid storage. This grade is perfect for fast disintegrating tablets (e.g. Flash tabs®) since it gives a very smooth cream-like mouth feel superior to the other Kollidon® CL types. For this kind of tablets – first of all of anal-gesics – a “superdisintegrant” like crospovidone is used to obtain a disinte-gration within much less than one minute. A typical example mentioned in the literature is ibuprofen. Table 1.13 illustrates the practical use of Kollidon® CL-SF in a formulation of fast disintegrating buccal tablets of loperamide. The disintegration time of these tablets is 27 sec.

Table 1.13: Fast disintegrating buccal loperamide tablets with Kollidon® CL-SF

1. FormulationI. Loperamide-HCl (Select Chemie) 2.0 mg Mannitol powder (Roquette) 85.5 mg Kollidon® CL-SF 4.0 mgII. Kollicoat® IR 3.0 mg Water 27.0 mgIII. Kollidon® CL-SF 3.0 mg Chocolate flavour (Symrise) 1.5 mg Sodium stearyl fumarate (JRS Pharma) 1.0 mg

2. Procedure (wet granulation) Granulate mixture I with binder solution II in a fluidized bed granu-

lator (inlet air temperature 40 – 45 °C, outlet air temperature 30 °C, atomizing pressure 0.5 bar), mix with the components III, pass through a 0.8 mm sieve, blend and press on a rotary press with low compression force (about 4 kN).

3. Tablet properties Weight 100 mg Diameter and form 7 mm, concave Hardness 27 N Disintegration in water 27 sec Friability less than 0.2 % Dissolution (0.01 N HCl/100 rpm) 84 % after 5 min, 94 % after 10 min Content uniformity corresponds to Ph.Eur.

28

Due to its interesting properties Kollidon® CL-SF also forms a part of a new direct compression agent (Ludiflash®) developed as direct compression agent for the production of fast disintegrating buccal tablets (see Section 1.5.4). It is a preparation of mannitol, Kollidon® CL-SF and polyvinyl acetate. Furthermore Kollidon® CL-SF shows the strongest ability of all Kollidon® CL grades to adsorb water or ethanol.

29

1.4 Enhancers of drug release

1.4.1 General notes

One problem with many of the active ingredients used today is their poor solubility in water and their limited bioavailability in solid dosage forms. If the usual concentration of a tablet disintegrant like crospovidone does not solve the problem an other method must be found. The simplest means of improving the bioavailability of a drug is to enhance its dissolution by adding complex formers or solubilizing agents, such as povidone, crospovidone, poloxamers or surfactants. In many cases it may be sufficient to produce a physical mixture or a trituration of the active ingredient with the solubilizer or complex former.

1.4.2 Povidone

Soluble Kollidon® grades

Povidone, e.g. Kollidon® 25 or Kollidon® 30 has no disintegrant effect what-soever, but it can be used to improve the dissolution of many drugs by forming a soluble complex with them. To this end, as with Kollidon® CL, it is necessary to prepare an intimate mixture of povidone and drug by comilling, or mixing (or coprecipitation or coextrusion) that contains an excess of Kollidon® 25 or Kollidon® 30. Fig. 1.8 shows a typical example of a physical mixture with indomethacin in the ratio 1+2. After 30 min the dissolution of the active ingredient was about 10 times enhanced by the presence of Kollidon® 30.

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 30 60 90 120Time, min

Dissolved indomethacin, %

Indomethacin alone

+ Kollidon® 30 1+2

+ Kollidon® CL-M 1+2

Fig. 1.8: Enhancement of the dissolution of indomethcin by mixing with Kollidon® 30 or Kollidon® CL-M in the ratio 1+ 2

30

1.4.3 Crospovidone as enhancer of drug release

Kollidon® CL grades

The rapid disintegration of a tablet is by no means a guarantee that the active substance is released and made bioavailable quickly. Thus, the drug release rate of a tablet is a much more important criterion than its disinte-gration time. Kollidon® CL is often very effective in this respect, as can be seen from Fig. 1.6 (Section 1.2.2) which contains data for acetylsalicylic acid tablets made by direct compression. But in difficult cases of insoluble active ingredients where drug release still proves inadequate, higher concentrations of crospovidone can be used to solubilize the active ingredient by complex formation as it is well known in the case of povidone. Then, the active substance should be mixed or comilled (or perhaps coevaporated) with one of the Kollidon® CL grades before addition to the other ingredients. The complex formed between the active ingredient and crospovidone in these intimate mixtures increases the dissolution and bioavailability of the drug.

Such preparations generally require an excess of crospovidone, typically 2 to 6 parts per 1 part of active ingredient. With active substances that are used in low dosages, such as hormone derivatives, this presents no problems. A typical enhancement of the drug dissolution is shown in Fig. 1.8 in the case of the example of a physical mixture of indomethacin and Kollidon® CL-M (or Kollidon® 30) in the ratio 1+2. A very high increase of the drug release was observed within the tested period of 2 hours.

A typical example of this application from the literature is a tablet formulation of medroxyprogesterone. Fig. 1.9 shows the influence of a trituration of this active ingredient with crospovidone on the dissolution of the tablet.

31

Dru

g, d

isso

lved

, mg/

ml

120

Time, min

600

0 9030

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

Medroxyprogesterone acetate+ crospovidone (1 + 6)

Medroxyprogesterone acetatealone

Fig. 1.9: Dissolution of medroxyprogesterone acetate from tablets made from a trituration with Kollidon® CL, compared with tablets without crospo-vidone

1.4.4 Poloxamers as enhancers of drug release

Lutrol® F 68, Lutrol® F 127, Lµtrol® micro 68, Lµtrol® micro 127

Like Kollidon® 25 and Kollidon® 30 the poloxamers 188 and 407 in the normal particle size (Lutrol® F 68, Lutrol® F 127) or in the milled form (Lµtrol® micro 68, Lµtrol® micro 127) can be used in tablets and capsules to improve the drug release.

Fig. 1.10 shows the influence of Lutrol® F 68 on the dissolution of digitoxin in a physical mixture 1+9. The dissolution of the active ingredient could be doubled by this combination. Preparing a coprecipitate with the same ratio the dissolution of digitoxin reached until more than 11 µg/ml after 120 min.

32

0

2

4

6

0 30 60 90 120

Digitoxin + Poloxamer 188 (1+9)

Digitoxin alone

Time, min

Dissolved drug, mg/ml

Fig. 1.10: Influence of Lutrol® F 68 on the dissolution of digitoxin

Because of the large particle size of the standard grades Lutrol® F 68 and Lutrol® F 127 it is recommended to use a preparation of the poloxamer with the active ingredient obtained by comilling, coextrusion or coprecipitation before tabletting. It must be noted that the comilling procedure is only possible if the mill is cooled, as the Lutrol® F grades have a melting point in the 50 – 60 °C range.

If only a physical mixture of the active ingredient with Lutrol® F will be applied (e.g. for the direct compression technology), it would be preferable to use the milled products Lµtrol® micro 68 and Lµtrol® micro 127 instead of the standard grades.

1.4.5 Solubilizer as enhancer of drug release

Cremophor® RH 40

In recent years, Cremophor® RH 40, the nonionic solubilizer macrogol glycerol hydroxystearate 40, has increasingly been used in solid drug forms to improve drug release. Unlike most other solubilizers, this product is almost odourles and tasteless in water, which is an advantage in this application.

In wet granulation, a small amount (usually less than 1% of the weight of the finished tablets) of Cremophor® RH 40 is dissolved in the granulating fluid or the binder solution, before starting the granulation.

This is of particular interest in the case of lipophilic or strongly hydrophobic drugs that can be solubilized as micelles.

33

1.5 Direct compression agents

1.5.1 General notes

The direct compression of tablets is of increasing interest particularly for generic preparations. Since the majority of the active ingredients don’t have the needed physical properties for the direct compression (flowability, particle size and particle structure) a direct compression agent can solve this problem.

In the product range of BASF excipients there are direct compression agents for different types of tablets as shown in Table 1.14. All these products act as flowability agent, filler, binder and enhancer of the content uniformity of tablets. Furthermore the standard grade Ludipress® and also Ludiflash® contain crospovidone as disintegrant.

Table 1.14: Direct compression agents of BASF

Product Type of tablet

Ludipress® Normal tabletsLudipress® LCE Lozenges, chewable tablets, effervescent tablets

sustained-release tabletsLudiflash® Fast disintegrating buccal tablets

1.5.2 Direct compression of normal tablets

Ludipress®

Ludipress® is a direct compression agent based on lactose monohydrate as filler and it contains 3.5 % of Kollidon® 30 as a binder and 3.5 % of Kollidon® CL as disintegrant. Fig. 1.11 shows the comparison of Ludipress® and a physical mixture of the same components in identical proportions like in Ludipress®. This Figure gives one of the important justifications of the commercialization of Ludipress® since the tablet hardness is much higher in comparison to the physical mixture.

Ludipress® is suited above all for normal tablets with a low to medium dosage of active ingredients. The irregular structure of the particles of the Ludipress® grades illustrated in Fig. 1.12 (Section 1.5.3) explains the good content uni-formity of tablets even with very low dosages of the active ingredient.

34

0

50

100

150

200

250

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Compression force, kN

Hardness

Ludipress®

Phys. mixture(like Ludipress)

Fig. 1.11: Hardness of placebo tablets manufactured with Ludipress® or with an iIdentical physical mixture like Ludipress®

Table 1.15 shows a typical direct compression formulation of aminophyllline tablets as a example of the many available guide formulations containing Ludipress®.

Table 1.15: Aminophylline tablets (100 mg)

1. Formulation Aminophylline powder (BASF) 100 g Ludipress® 150 g Magnesium stearate 2 g Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 2 g

2. Procedure (direct compression) Mix all components, sieve and press on a rotary press to tablets with

low compression force.

3. Tablet properties Weight 254 mg Diameter 8 mm Hardness 97 N Disintegration 10 min Friability 0.2 % Dissolution 10 min: 87 % 15 min: 100 %

35

1.5.3 Direct compression of lozenges, chewable, effervescent and sustained-release tablets

Ludipress® LCE

Ludipress® LCE is a direct compression agent based on 96.5 % lactose monohydrate and 3.5 % of Kollidon® 30 as binder. It does not contain any disintegrant and is therefore suitable for all tablets of slow disintegration (lozenges, chewable and sustained-release tablets) or which contains an other system of disintegration like effervescent tablets.Beside of the function as filler, flowability agent and binder Ludipress® LCE can be suitable as pore former in sustained-release matrix tablets of insoluble active ingredients to adjust its release.

Both Ludipress® grades have a particle structure (see Fig. 1.12) that gives them excellent flow properties, and their concentration in tablets is often fairly high, they are also effective flow improvers.

Fig. 1.12: Particle structure of the Ludipress® grades

Table 1.16 shows a typical direct compression formulation of acetylsalicylic acid + vitamin C effervescent tablets as an example of the many available guide formulations containing Ludipress® LCE.

36

Table 1.16: Acetylsalicylic acid + vitamin C effervescent tablets (400 mg + 250 mg)

1. Formulation Acetylsalicylic acid (Synopharm) 400 g Ascorbic acid, crystalline (BASF) 250 g Ludipress® LCE 600 g Citric acid, crystalline 300 g Sodium bicarbonate 600 g Macrogol 4000, powder 90 g

2. Procedure (direct compression) Pass all components through a 0.8 mm sieve, mix and press with

high compression force.

3. Tablet properties Weight 2251 mg Diameter 20 mm Hardness 145 N Disintegration 1 min 35 sec Friability 0.66 % Colour white

1.5.4 Direct compression of fast-disintegrating buccal tablets

Ludiflash®

Ludiflash® is a formulation of about 90 % D-mannitol, 5 % Kollidon® CL-SF and about 5 % polyvinyl acetate obtained by granulation with Kollicoat® SR 30D.It is suitable for direct compression manufacturing of fast disintegrating tablets particularly for buccal administration having the functions of filler, disintegrant, flowability agent and binder. But it could also be used for such fast disinte-grating tablets produced by wet granulation.

When placebo tablets of Ludiflash® were produced using different compres-sion forces a linear influence of the compression force on tablet hardness and disintegration could be demonstrated (see Fig. 1.13).

37

0

60

120

180

150

90

30

0

60

120

180

150

90

30

0 5 10 15

Hardness

Disintegration

Compression force, kN

Har

dne

ss, N

Dis

inte

grat

ion

times

, s

Fig. 1.13: Influence of compression force on the hardness and disintegration of Ludiflash® placebo tablets

If the disintegration is not fast enough because the amount of Ludiflash® in the formulation must be small it would be recommended to add an additional amount of Kollidon® CL-SF.Detailed test revealed magnesium stearate and sodium stearyl fumarate to be appropriate lubricants for fast disintegration buccal tablets based on Ludiflash®.

38

Table 1.17 shows a typical formulation of fast-disintegrating famotidine tab-lets having a disintegration time of 27 sec and a dissolution of almost 100 % after 3 min.

Table 1.17: Famotidine fast-disintegrating buccal tablets (20 mg)

1. Formulation Famotidine (various sources) 20 g Ludiflash® 267 g Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 3 g L-Menthol 0.9 g Aspartame 4.5 g Sodium stearyl fumarate 4.5 g

2. Procedure (direct compression) Mix all components, pass through a 0.8 mm sieve and press with a

compression force of about 10 kN and a rotation speed of 40 rpm.

3. Tablet properties Weight 300 mg Diameter 10 mm Hardness 51 N Disintegration (pH 7.2) 27 sec Friability < 0.2 % Dissolution (5 min) about 99 %

39

1.6 Instant-release and protective coatings of tablets and capsules

1.6.1 General notes

Instant-release coatings can be a subcoating (see Section 1.6.7), a final film-coating or a traditional sugar coating of tablets or capsules. Final instant-release coatings usually are applied to tablets or capsules with one or several of the purposes mentioned in Table 1.18.

Table 1.18: Important purposes of final instant-release coatings

1. Colouring - Increase the patient compliance - Identification and distinction of different types of tablets.

2. Protection of the active ingredient - Against oxidation or hydrolysis - Reduction of chemical interactions between active ingredients

(e.g. antibiotics, vitamin combinations).

3. Masking the smell and taste of the active ingredient

In the product range of BASF excipients there are four different film-coating substances or preparations suitable for instant-release film-coatings (Table 1.19). Most of they are based on the grafted copolymer Kollicoat® IR.

Table 1.19: Polymers or preparations for instant-release coatings in the BASF product range

Product Type Main function/application

Kollicoat® IR Polymer Coloured coatings, protective coatings

Kollicoat® IR White Ready to mix White coatings, protective preparation coatings

Kollicoat® Protect Polymer mixture Protection, white or coloured coatings, taste masking

Kollidon® VA 64 Polymer Coloured coatings, protection (combination with sugar or HPMC)

40

1.6.2 Instant-release film-coating with Kollicoat® IR

Kollicoat® IR powder comprises polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol bound in the ratio of 25:75. A polyethylene glycol chain forms a base onto which side chains of polyvinyl alcohol are grafted. The mean molecular weight is approximately 45,000. It can be considered as the ideal film former for instant-release film-coat-ings, since it is very plastic, very soluble in water, has no significant viscosity even in a concentration of 20 % and very low tackiness. Therefore high concentrated spray solutions can be applied and no plasticizer is needed. Smooth tablet coatings are obtained and nether polishing nor curing is needed.

Fig. 1.14 shows the viscosity of 20 % solutions in water of Kollicoat® IR and two hypromellose types used for instant-release film-coating. The viscosity of Kollicoat® IR solution is much lower than the usual limit of 250 mPa.s to pass well the nozzle of about 0.8 mm.

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Kollicoat® IR

Vis

cosi

ty, m

Pa.

s

Usual limitof the nozzle

HPMC, type3 mPa.s

HPMC, type6 mPa.s

Fig.1.14: Viscosity of Kollicoat® IR and hypromellose (20 % in water)

The manufacture of a spray suspension of Kollicoat® IR for coating tablets and capsules is straightforward; it is also quicker than with most other film-forming agents. The suspension can be prepared using a number of methods; the recommended method is described below:Suspend the pigments and talcum in part of the water and homogenize until fine and lump-free. Dissolve the Kollicoat® IR in the rest of the water. Add the homogenized pigment suspension to the Kollicoat® IR solution. Pass the suspension through a sieve (e.g. 200 µm) in order to remove any pig-ment that may have agglomerated and that would block the spray nozzle.

Frequently, a simpler method is also possible: suspend the pigments in the total amount of water, homogenize and then stir in the Kollicoat® IR, stirring for 5 min until dissolved. Generally, the stirring speed should not be too high in order to prevent or minimize foaming.

41

Table 1.20 shows a typical film-coating formulation of Kollicoat® IR for tab-lets or capsules. The viscosity of this spray suspension is below 200 mPa.s.

Table 1.20: Instant-release film-coating formulation with Kollicoat® IR for 5 kg tablets (weight 330 mg, diameter 9 mm)

Weight [g] Proportion [%]1. Formulation Polymer solution: Kollicoat® IR 108.2 20.8 Water 286.0 55.0 Pigment suspension: Talc 37.5 7.2 Titanium dioxide 15.6 3.0 Sicovit® Iron oxide red 7.8 1.5 Water 65.0 12.5

2. Procedure Stirr the talc and the pigments vigorously into the water, homogenize

the obtained suspension in a corundum disk mill and stirr it into the polymer solution.

3. Coating conditions (Accela cota® 24’’, Manesty) Inlet air temperature 60 °C Outlet air temperature 40 °C Cores temperature 35 °C Air flow 180 m3/h Spray pressure 3 bar Spray rate 30 g/min Spraying time 20 min Final drying 4 min, 60 °C Quantity applied 3 mg polymer/cm2

The tablets of propranolol or caffeine coated with the formulation given in Table 1.20 had got a smooth and brillant surface without any polishing. All other physical properties like hardness, friability, disintegration and disso-lution were not changed in a significant manner by the coating and after the storage at different conditions.

In the pharmaceutical industry today the question of production cost, including that of coatings, is constantly being raised. In the case of the pure material costs the difference between coating with Kollicoat® IR grades and hypromellose is so small that it can be practically neglected for comparative pur-poses. However, production costs are a different matter.

42

With Kollicoat® IR, the production of the polymer solution is simpler, and hence a little cheaper, than is the case with hypromellose; however, the decisive cost factor is the film-coating process and this is practically entirely dependent on the solid concentration of the spray suspension. In the case of Kollicoat® IR, this concentration is about 20 % and hence substantially higher than in the case of hypromellose (about 12 %). This means that the spray time, and hence the cost, can be considerably reduced. In addition, the temperatures that can be achieved with cores comprising the Kollicoat® IR grades are substantially higher than with hypromellose. In order to demonstrate this, extensive comparison studies were done in an Accela-Cota® 24’’ (Manesty) to develop “Process-Parameter-Charts”. The influence of product temperature and processing time on the aspect of the coated tablets and the processing behaviour were detemined.

Four groups of results were classified in these studies:- Class 1 (red area): The film-coating process is not possible with the

chosen settings. Cores stick to the drum or are overwetted.- Class 2 (orange area): The film-coating process is principly possible,

but the surface of the coated tablets is not acceptable.- Class 3 (light green area): The film-coating process is possible and

the surface of the coated tablets is acceptable.- Class 4 (dark green area): The film-coating process is possible and

the surface of the coated tablets is optimal.

The Process-Parameter-Charts of Kollicoat® IR and HPMC (3 mPa.s) shown in Fig.1.15 and Fig. 1.16 demonstrate clearly that a very robust process with short process times (about 50 min) can be achieved with Kollicoat® IR. Since in the case of HPMC (3 mPa.s) the green areas are much more lim-ited the minimal process time is much longer (at least about 100 min) and the transfer from a pilot to production scale is not so easy. In the case of HPMC (6 mPa.s) the process time is even longer than for HPMC (3 mPa.s).

43

■ Film-coating impossible, sticking of the cores ■ Good film-coating process, surface acceptable■ Film-coating possible, but surface not acceptable ■ Optimal film-coating process, best surface quality

Fig. 1.15: Influence of process time and temperature on the film-coating with a Kollicoat® IR formulation (Process-Parameter-Chart)


Fig. 1.16: Influence of process time and temperature on the film-coating with a HPMC (3 mPa.s) formulation (Process-Parameter-Chart)

To test the scale-up of Kollicoat® IR coatings a formulation similar to the red film-coating formulation described in Table 1.20 was produced on propranolol-HCl cores in various batch sizes from 5 kg to 250 kg of cores. It was found that the most important parameter to be considered for the scale-up is the relative spray rate. If a relative spray rate of 2.8 g/min was applied for 1 kg of cores, no significant differences of the coated tablets could be observed in this study.

44

1.6.3 Instant-release film-coating with Kollicoat® IR White

Kollicoat® IR White is a ready-made mixture based on film-forming agent Kollicoat® IR and is for immediate use (Composition: 61 % Kollicoat® IR, 7 % Kollidon® VA 64, 14 % titanium dioxide, 16 % kaolin, 2 % sodium lauryl sulphate). It is mainly intended for use in white tablets; however, other pig-ments can be added for colour if required. It has all the advantages of film former Kollicoat® IR, e.g. rapid dissolution in water, a high degree of adhe-sion also on lipophilic surfaces, its enormous plasticity and its low viscosity in water.

With Kollicoat® IR White, a white, readily soluble coating is obtained. It can be used to mask taste, to facilitate swallowing tablets or to improve the sta-bility of the active ingredient by decreasing contact with oxygen and mois-ture.

Due to the very high flexibility of Kollicoat® IR, Kollicoat® IR White requires no additional plasticizer. In addition, the flexibility prevents the coating from cracking during storage, especially if the relative humidity varies. Even if the cores contain a swelling disintegrant such as crospovidone (Kollidon® CL grades), the coating retains its strength during storage – also if the storage conditions may not be ideal.

The manufacture of a spray suspension of Kollicoat® IR White for film-coat-ing tablets and capsules is both easy and quick. The following method is recommended:Stir the required amount of water well. The stirring speed must be such that little or, better, no foam is produced. Add Kollicoat® IR White slowly but continuously. Continue stirring for a further 10 – 15 minutes; the white spraying suspension is then ready for use (see Fig 1.17).

45

MEMP 040901e-04 December 2005 Page 7 of 12 Kollicoat® IR White

3.2 Processing notes Because of the high fl exibility of Kollicoat® IR White fi lms, it is not necessary to add a plasticizer.

A spray suspension is conveniently prepared as follows:

Stir Kollicoat® IR White into water and redisperse. The mixer speed should be adjusted so that little or no foam is produced. After stirring for 15 min, Kollicoat® IR White is ready for further processing.

The fi gures clearly illustrate the simple redispersion of Kollicoat® IR White.

On account of its much lower viscosity, Kollicoat® IR White can be processed in spray suspensions of much higher concentration than other ready-to-use instant-release formulations. This greatly shortens the spraying and processing time in the manufacture of fi lm-coated tablets. Suspensions with a solids concentration of 15 – 30% can be processed without problem.

The high elasticity of Kollicoat® IR White ensures that it does not crack on the tablets when they are exposed to varying humidity during storage.

The coating system can be applied on all the usual coaters, e.g. horizontal drum coaters, fl uidized bed coaters, immersion sword coaters, and coating pans, under the usual conditions for aqueous solutions.

The following conditions have produced good results in numerous trials:

Inlet air temperature: 50-80°COutlet air temperature: 30-50°CAtomizing pressure: 2-4 barTemperature of spray suspension: 20-70°C

CleaningThe product can very easily be cleaned off equipment with warm or cold water.

1 2

3 4

Fig. 1.17: Dispersion of Kollicoat® IR White in water: 1 Slightly stirred water using a magnetic stirrer prior to addition. 2 Start of addition of Kollicoat® IR White. 3 During the addition of Kollicoat® IR White. 4 Final homogeneous suspension.

To obtain coloured coatings, water-soluble colorants or ready-made colour mixes, e.g. Sepispers® Dry (Seppic), can be added directly. However, colour lakes or iron oxide pigments can also be used. They must, however, be separately dispersed in water beforehand and then homogenized before being added to the Kollicoat® IR White suspension.

Due to the low viscosity of aqueous Kollicoat® IR White suspensions (25 % in water: about 150 mPa.s), a much higher concentration can be used than for other commercially available ready-made film-coating mixtures. This re-duces the spraying time considerably and hence the overall processing costs.

46

Spray suspensions containing 20 – 25 % of solids can be prepared with ease at room temperature as their viscosity is always below the critical limit of 250 mPa.s.Like in the case of Kollicoat® IR a very robust process with short process times can be achieved with Kollicoat® IR White.

For the white film-coating of cores usually 20 % of Kollicoat® IR White is suspended in water and stirred for further 15 minutes. For the coating of 6 kg of acetylsalicilic acid cores the machine settings of the Accela Cota® 24" (Manesty) are summarized in Table 1.21 as a typical example. Although the inlet air temperature was relatively low at 60 °C and the spraying pres-sure was only 2 bar, the entire spraying process took only 35 minutes.

Table 1.21: Machine settings for the white film-coating of acetyl-salicylic acid cores with Kollicoat® IR White (Accela Cota® 24")

Parameter Setting

Batch size 6 kg Inlet air temperature 60 °C Outlet air temperature 36 °C Core temperature 35 °C Inlet flow rate 210 m3/h Outlet air flow rate 410 m3/h Spray pressure 2 bar No. nozzles 1 Spray rate 30 g/min Spraying time, total 35 min Subsequent drying 4 min/60 °C Amount applied 5 mg solid/cm2

The physical properties of the acetylsalicylic acid tablets were not changed significantly by the coating process. Only a slight increase of the tablet hard-ness was observed without any influence on the disintegration or dissolution.

For the coloured film-coating of cores with Kollicoat® IR White a typical formulation of the spray suspension and the machine settings are given in Table 1.22 for the scale of 250 kg of cores. This particular production run is somewhat more complex than for a simple white suspension as the insoluble indigotin-aluminium colour lake first has to be suspended and homogenized (e.g. using a high-speed mixer) before being added to the Kollicoat® IR White suspension.

47

Table 1.22: Blue instant-release film-coating with Kollicoat® IR White for 250 kg tablets (weight 250 mg, diameter 9 mm)

Weight [kg] Proportion [%]1. Formulation Polymer suspension: Kollicoat® IR White 7.76 18.8 Water 25.0 60.6 Colour lake suspension: Indigotin colour lake E 132 0.495 1.2 Water 8.0 19.4

2. Procedure Stirr the colour lake vigorously into the water, homogenize the

obtained suspension in a corundum disk mill and stirr it into the polymer suspension.

3. Coating conditions (Driacoater® 900, Driam) Inlet air temperature 70 °C Outlet air temperature 45 °C Cores temperature 47 °C Air flow 4600 m3/h Spray pressure 4 bar No. nozzles 6 Spray rate 700 g/min Spraying time 60 min Final drying 5 min, 60 °C Quantity applied 3 % solids

1.6.4 Protective film-coating with Kollicoat® Protect

Kollicoat® Protect is a mixture of the film-forming polymers Kollicoat® IR and polyvinyl alcohol in the ratio 6:4. It is designed for white and coloured tablet and capsule film-coatings. Due to its very low permeability with respect to oxygen and water, its primary application is as a protective film against oxidation and hydrolysis of the active ingredient. In addition, it can be used to mask taste, to facilitate the swallowing of tablets, to improve their appear-ance or as subcoating.

It possesses all the advantages of Kollicoat® IR, e.g. rapid dissolution in water, a high degree of adhesion, also on lipophilic surfaces, enormous flexibility and low viscosity in water (20 % in water: about 230 mPa.s).

48

Kollicoat® Protect allows smooth and rapidly dissolving coatings to be produced. Due to its high degree of flexibility, coating formulations using Kollicoat® Protect do not require the addition of a plasticizer. In addition, the flexibility prevents the coating from cracking during storage, especially if the relative humidity varies. Even if the cores contain a swelling disintegrant such as crospovidone (Kollidon® CL grades), the coating retains its strength during storage – also if the storage conditions may not be ideal.

The manufacture of a polymer solution of Kollicoat® Protect for film-coating tablets and capsules is both straightforward and quick. However, at certain stirring speeds foam may form. The formation of foam can be best prevented or at least reduced by adding 0.1 % of a 30 % simethicon emulsion or 0.75 % Labrasol® (Gattefossé). Normally, one of the following two methods can be used:

A) Spray solution containing a water-soluble colorant:Stir Kollicoat® Protect and the soluble colorant into the required amount of water. Set the stirring speed so that as little foam as possible is generated. Continue stirring for a further 30 min. If necessary, add an anti-foaming agent beforehand.

B) Spray suspension with white and/or coloured pigment or colour lake:Stir Kollicoat® Protect into the required amount of water to obtain the poly-mer solution. Set the stirring speed so that as little foam as possible is generated. Continue to stir for a further 30 min.To prepare the pigment suspension, stir the insoluble components, e.g. talcum powder, titanium dioxide, iron oxide or colour lake into the required amount of water and homogenize in a high-speed stirrer or corundum disk mill. Stir the pigment suspension into the polymer solution to make the spray suspension. Stir continuously during the entire spraying process. A typical example of this method is demonstrated in Table 1.23.

The concentration of solids in the spray suspension usually lies in the range of 15 – 20 %.

The Process-Parameter-Charts of formulations of Kollicoat® Protect and of polyvinyl alcohol shown in Fig.1.18 and Fig. 1.19 demonstrate clearly the strong advantages of the polmer combination Kollicoat® Protect against the polyvinyl alcohol alone. A very robust process with short process times (about 90 min) can be achieved with the Kollicoat® Protect formulation. Since in the case of the polyvinyl alcohol formulation the green areas are strongly limited the minimal process time is very much longer, the inlet-air temperature much higher and the transfer from a pilot to production scale is more difficult.

49


Fig. 1.18: Influence of process time and temperature on the film-coating with a Kollicoat® Protect formulation (Process-Parameter-Chart)


Fig. 1.19: Influence of process time and temperature on the film-coating with a polyvinyl alcohol formulation (Process-Parameter-Chart)

For a typical formulation acetylsalicylic acid (100 mg) was selected as active ingredient for this particular application because of its high sensitivity to hydrolysis. In this way, the protective effect of Kollicoat® Protect can best be shown.

The 20 % suspension was prepared as described in general method B. The composition and the machine settings is shown in Table 1.23. The formulation was designed for the coating of 6 kg of cores.

50

Table 1.23: Protective white film-coating with Kollicoat® Protect for 6 kg of acetylsalicylic acid tablets (weight 300 mg, diameter 9 mm)

Weight [g] Proportion [%]1. Formulation

(spray suspension) Kollicoat® Protect 125.40 12 Talcum 52.25 5 Titanium dioxide 31.35 3 Water 836.00 80 Total 1045.00 100

2. Procedure (Method B) Stirr the talcum and titanium dioxide into a part of the water, homo-

genize the obtained pigment suspension in a corundum disk mill and stirr it into the polymer solution prepared with the rest of water.

3. Coating conditions (Accela Cota® 24’’, Manesty) Inlet air temperature 60 °C Outlet air temperature 36 °C Cores temperature 35 °C Inlet air flow 210 m3/h Outlet air flow 410 m3/h Spray pressure 2 bar No. nozzles 1 Spray rate 30 g/min Spraying time 35 min Final drying 4 min, 60 °C Quantity applied 5 mg solids/cm2

The coated acetylsalicylic acid tablets obtained had a white, glossy coating that covered the engravings on the tablet surface excellently. The physical properties of acetylsalicylic acid tablets were hardly affected by the protec-tive coating; however, there was an small increase in hardness. The release curve is also practically identical to that of identical cores coated with Kollicoat® IR.

Hydrolysis of acetylsalicylic acid in the tablets coated with Kollicoat® Protect was investigated over a period of 6 months under various storage conditions (25 °C/60 % and 30 °C/70 % relative humidity). In the case of the Kollicoat® Protect coating, a significant smaller amount of free salicylic acid was deter-mined than with a coating of Kollicoat® IR White or without any coating.

To obtain coloured film-coatings with Kollicoat® Protect the same formulation as given in Table 1.23 could be used adding an iron oxide or a colour lake to the pigment suspension.

51

1.6.5 Instant-release film-coating with Kollidon® VA 64

Kollidon® VA 64 is used in water-soluble tablet coatings to improve stability or organoleptic properties, particularly in conjunction with other film-forming agents. A typical example is the combination with hypromellose (HPMC), in which the use of Kollidon® VA 64 saves not only material costs but also processing costs, as it reduces the viscosity of the spray suspension. This allows the use of a higher concentration, which saves time. The effect of reducing the viscosity is shown in Fig. 1.20.

Kollidon® VA 64 can also be used together with other film-forming agents such as polyvinyl alcohol, hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), ethyl cellulose or sucrose in the manufacture of soluble tablet coatings.

Vis

cosi

ty, m

Pa·

s

Hypromellose aloneHypromellose +Kollidon® VA 64 (4+6)

Limit (Accela Cota®)200

0

400

600

800

0 3 6 9

Polymer concentration in water, %

12 15 18

1000

Fig. 1.20: Viscosity of hypromellose (+ Kollidon® VA 64) coating solutions

The combination with sugar in Table 1.24 is an intersting formulation for film-coatings. In this case, the film-forming and plastic properties of Kollidon® VA 64 are combined with the protective and taste masking properties of sugar. Kollidon® VA 64 not only acts as a film-forming agent, it also acts as a crystallization inhibitor that prevents the sugar from crystallizing during spraying and on the tablets. The coating can be applied in any thickness desired.

52

Table 1.24: Sugar film-coating with Kollidon® VA 64

1. Formulation of the spray suspension Sucrose 200 g Kollidon® VA 64 50 g Titanium dioxide 30 g Sicovit® Iron oxide 15 g Macrogol 4000 40 g Talc 50 g Water ad 1200 g

2. Preparation Dissolve the sucrose, Kollidon® VA 64 and macrogol 4000 in the water

and suspend the other components. Pass through a colloid mill.

3. Coating conditions (Accela Cota® 24) Batch size (tablet cores) 5.0 kg Amount of coating suspension 1.2 kg Inlet air temperature 45 °C Outlet air temperature 36 °C Nozzle 0.8 mm Coating pan speed 15 rpm Spray pressure 2.0 bar Spraying time (continuous) 50 min Quantity of film former applied 4 mg/cm2

1.6.6 Traditional sugar coating

Kollidon® 30 or Kollidon® VA 64

Kollidon® 30 and Kollidon® VA 64 are also used in traditional sugar coating, as they reduce the rate of crystallization of the sugar, which in turn makes it possible to automate the coating process. Typically, about 10 % Kollidon® (as a proportion of the sucrose) is used.

Sugar coatings are particularly susceptible to cracking when they are applied to large batches of tablet cores that are dried rapidly. As most active ingre-dients are hydrophobic, Kollidon® VA 64 and Kollidon® 30 are useful as ad-ditives to prevent the tablet coating peeling during manufacture. Particularly when soluble dyes are used, Kollidon® VA 64 and Kollidon® 30 are useful in achieving an even distribution of the dye and preventing its migration, as well as increasing the capacity of the coating suspension for the dye.

53

Apart from its use in manual sugar coating, Kollidon® VA 64 or Kollidon® 30 makes it possible to automate the traditional sugar coating process. Table 1.25 gives a suitable formulation.

Table 1.25: Spray suspension for automatic sugar coating

1. Formulation of the coating suspension Sucrose 76 g Kollidon® 30 8 g Titanium dioxide 9 g Calcium carbonate 9 g Talc 29 g Colorant/pigment (e.g. Sicovit® iron oxide) q.s. Glycerol 4 g Water 63 g

2. Procedure 40 kg of tablet cores with a weight of 420 mg were sprayed with

25 kg of the above suspension in a conventional coating pan under the following conditions:

3. Coating conditions Spray phase: 5 s Interval: 10 min Drying phase (warm air): 10 min Total coating time: 16 h

1.6.7 Subcoating of tablet cores

Kollidon® VA 64 (Kollidon® 30)

Kollidon® VA 64, which is much less hygroscopic and more plastic than povidone, is more suitable and more widely used for subcoating tablet cores or capsules than Kollidon® 30 or Kollidon® 25.

In this application, it is used either to form a moisture barrier around the tablet core or capsule to prevent the entry of water during subsequent processing, or as an adhesion promoter to give tablet cores and capsules a hydrophilic surface for subsequent film-coating or sugar coating. The most important reasons for the application of a subcoating and for the functions of Kollidon® VA 64 are summarized in Table 1.26.

54

Table 1.26: Reasons for subcoating tablet cores and the function of Kollidon® VA 64 in this application

Reasons for subcoating Function of Kollidon® VA 64 tablet cores

Instability of the active Formation of a barrier layer on ingredient towards water the surface and in the pores (hydrolysis)

Chemical interactions between Formation of a barrier layer on the active ingredients the surface and in the pores (e.g. vitamins)

Presence of high-performance Formation of a barrier layer on disintegrants the surface and in the pores

Hydrophobic surface of the Improvement in adhesion of tablet core or capsule subsequent coatings by hydro- philization of the surface

Dust formation (friability Loose particles are bound to of the tablet cores) the surface of the tablet core

Kollidon® VA 64 (or Kollidon® 30) is usually sprayed onto the cores as a 10 % solution in alcohol (e.g. ethanol or 2-propanol) during few minutes until an adequate thickeness is achieved.

1.6.8 Taste masking by coating of tablets

Kollidon® VA 64, Kollicoat® Protect, Kollicoat® IR

A film-coating containing Kollidon® VA 64 and sucrose is one of the simplest and most effective means of masking the unpleasant taste of tablets without compromizing drug release. An example of such a coating is given in Section 1.6.5.This applies in even more to Kollicoat® Protect. To demonstrate this appli-cation pseudo-ephedrine tablets were used. Pseudo-ephedrine hydrochlo-ride is an active ingredient with a bitter taste; this is very much enhanced by its very good solubility. For this reason, it is suitable for use as a test substance in experiments designed to mask taste as it is immediately tasted if the tablets remain uncoated.Using direct compression technology, tablet cores containing 90 mg of active ingredient were produced (weight 300 mg, diameter 9 mm). 5 kg of these cores were coated with a white spray suspension of Kollicoat® Protect in an Accela Cota® 24’’ (Manesty) coating machine. Coatings of 10, 15 and 20 mg/cm2 were obtained. The formulation for the spray suspension, the spraying conditions and the machine settings are summarized in Table 1.27. The spraying time was able to be considerably shortened due to the higher spraying rate used.

55

Table 1.27: Taste masking film-coating with Kollicoat® Protect for 5 kg of pseudo-ephedrine tablets (weight 300 mg, diameter 9 mm)

Content [%]1. Formulation of spray suspension Kollicoat® Protect 12 Talcum 6 Titanium dioxide 2 Water 80 Total 100

2. Coating conditions (Accela Cota® 24’’, Manesty) Inlet air temperature 60 °C Outlet air temperature 37 °C Cores temperature 32 °C Air flow 389 m3/h Spray pressure 2 bar Spray rate 24-26 g/min Final drying 3 min, 60 °C Quantity applied 10, 15 and 20 mg solids/cm2

The effect of taste masking was tested subjectively; a tablet was placed in the mouth and the time noted for the first bitter taste to occur. The results shown in Table 1.28 show that a coating of 20 mg/cm2 is adequate to mask the taste for more than one minute.

Table 1.28: Taste masking effect of Kollicoat® Protect on pseudoephedrine tablets

Amount of coating used Time to occurrence of bitter taste Without coating < 1 sec. 10 mg/cm2 14 – 24 sec. 15 mg/cm2 46 – 47 sec. 20 mg/cm2 78 sec.

56

1.6.9 Taste masking by coating of granules or crystals before tabletting

Kollicoat® SR 30 D

The alternative to the coating of tablets of active ingredients with an unpleas-ant taste is the coating of the crystals or granules of such active substance before tabletting. For this purpose the film-former Kollicoat® SR 30 D could be used. As this polyvinyl acetate polymer is insoluble in water, the optimum quantity and the composition of the formulation must be determined very carefully, to minimize the delay in drug release, though this delay can be reduced to some extent by adding hydrophilic polymers (e.g. Kollidon® 30) or surfactants.

Acetaminophen crystals, for example, have a bitter taste, but if 300 g of these crystals are coated with an dispersion of 150 g Kollicoat® SR 30 D and 33.7 g Kollidon® 30 in 210 g water in a fluidized bed granulator until the resulting granules are coated with 15% polyvinyl acetate and 11 % Kollidon® 30, the bitter taste is masked for more than 2 minutes.

Even after these acetaminophen granules are compressed into tablets with a little of microcrystalline cellulose, drug release is not much slower than from the uncoated substance (Fig. 1.21). Similar results were obtained with ibuprofen.

min

Rel

ease

d d

rug,

%

Tablets from uncoatedcrystals

Tablets from coatedcrystals(15% PVAc + 11% PVP)

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Fig. 1.21: Release of taste masked acetaminophen tablets (from crystals coated with Kollicoat® SR 30 D + Kollidon® 30)

57

1.7 Colorants (pigments)

Sicovit® iron oxides

Both in tablets and in tablet coatings, iron oxide pigments are finding increas-ing favour over the lakes of organic dyes, even though the colours that can be achieved are not quite as brilliant. Usually, one or two iron oxide pigments are combined with titanium dioxide to obtain the desired shade.

If the tablets are to be made by direct compression, it is recommended to first mix the pigments with the lubricant (e.g. magnesium stearate), and to use this mixture as a lubricant. This ensures that the pigments are homo-geneously distributed throughout the tablets. Table 1.29 shows a typical example of this application in the formulation for a vitamin B12 tablet.

Table 1.29: Coloured vitamin B12 tablets (50 µg)

1. Formulations I. Cyanocobalamin gelatin coated 0.1 % 50.0 g Ludipress® 150.0 g II. Magnesium stearate 1.5 g Sicovit® Iron oxide Yellow 10 2.0 g Sicovit® Iron oxide Red 30 3.0 g

2. Procedure (direct compression) Prepare premix II, add to mixture I, pass through a 0.5 mm sieve

and press with low compression force.

3. Tablet properties Weight 209 mg Diameter 8 mm Hardness 80 N Disintegration 10 min Friability < 0.1 % Colour homogeneous

58

Coating pigment suspensions are best stabilized with Kollidon® 25 or Kollidon® 30, as the example of a spray suspension formulation for couloured enteric film-coating shows in Table 1.30.

Table 1.30: Enteric film-coating of tablets with Sicovit® Iron Oxide Red 30 (for 5 kg tablet cores, 9 mm diameter)

1. Formulation I. Pigment suspension: Titanium dioxide 6 g Talc 48 g Sicovit® Iron Oxide Red 30 6 g Kollidon® 30 6 g Water 120 g II. Polymer suspension: Kollicoat® MAE 30DP 600 g Propylene glycol 18 g Water 396 g Total I + II: 1200 g

2. Preparation of the spray suspension I. Suspend the pigments and talc in the thoroughly stirred solution of

Kollidon® 30 and homogenize in a disk mill or in a colloid mill. II. Separately suspend Kollicoat® MAE 30DP in the solution of propy-

lene glycol. Add pigment suspension I to the thoroughly stirred polymer suspen-

sion II. Keep the suspension stirred throughout the coating process.

59

2. Modified-release solid dosage forms (Tablets, pellets and granules)

2.1 Enteric film-coatings with Kollicoat® MAE grades

2.1.1 General notes

The copolymer products Kollicoat® MAE 30 DP and Kollicoat® MAE 100 P based on methacrylic acid and ethylacrylate only dissolve at pH values of 5.5 and above, and are used for enteric film-coatings for tablets, pellets, granules and capsules. Both the aqueous dispersion, Kollicoat® MAE 30 DP and the powder, Kollicoat® MAE 100 P can be processed easily in water, are impermeable to protons, ions and water, and have low hygroscopicity. It is not necessary to cure the tablets or capsules after coating.

The dissolution in water in dependence of the pH is identical for both Kollicoat® MAE grades. It is shown in Fig. 2.1 that the dissolution starts at ph 5.5.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

6.165.95.85.75.65.55.45.3

Dis

solu

tion,

mg/

min

pH

Fig. 2.1: Dissolution of Kollicoat® MAE grades in aqueous medium as a function of pH

The powder Kollicoat® MAE 100P is partly neutralized. Therefore it is possible to produce the polymer dispersion for manufacturing by stirring this powder into water without the addition of any alcaline substance. A further advantage of Kollicoat® MAE 100P is that the dispersion obtained by this manner is

63

more compatible with other excipients and less sensitive about shearing forces in comparison with the commercial dispersion Kollicoat® MAE 30DP which is not partly neutralized.

As the Kollicoat® MAE copolymer has a very low plasticity, always it is recom-mended to add a plasticizer like 1,2-propylene glycol or triethyl citrate. Fig. 2.2 shows the influence of different triethyl citrate concentrations on the elonga-tion at break of this polymer. Most coating formulations with Kollicoat® MAE grades given in this book contains about 15 % of 1,2-propylene glycol as plasticizer. The influence of 1,2-propylene glycol on the minimum film-form-ing temperature (MFT) of Kollicoat® MAE is shown in Section 2.4.1.

10% 15% 20%

Elongation at break, %

Triethyl citrate in the Kollicoat® MAE polymer

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

Fig. 2.2: Influence of triethyl citrate on the elongation of the Kollicoat® MAE copolymer

2.1.2 Enteric film-coating of tablets and capsules

To obtain enteric tablets that meet the requirements of the pharmacopoeias (insoluble for 2 h at pH 1 and readily soluble at pH 6.8), the tablet cores should generally be coated with a amount of 3 – 6 mg solids/cm2.

A typical formulation of acetylsalicylic acid tablets coated with Kollicoat® MAE grades and the machine settings for an Accela Cota® 24’’ (Manesty) are given in Table 2.1. In this formulation, the 495 g of Kollicoat® MAE 30 DP can be replaced directly with the equivalent quantity of 148.5 g of the powder product, Kollicoat® MAE 100 P plus the missing quantity of water contributed by the polymer dispersion.

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Table 2.1: Enteric film-coating of acetylsalicylic acid tablets (for 5 kg of cores, 300 mg weight, 9 mm diameter)

1. Formulation I. Polymer suspension: Alternative I: Kollicoat® MAE 30 DP 495.0 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 22.3 g Water 319.4 g Alternative II: Kollicoat® MAE 100 P 148.5 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 22.3 g Water 665.9 g II. Pigment suspension: Titanium dioxide 4.9 g Talc 39.6 g Sicovit® Iron Oxide Red 30 4.9 g Water. 103.9 g Total (I + II): 990 g

2. Procedure I. Mix 1,2-propylene glycol with water and stir in Kollicoat® MAE

30DP or suspend Kollicoat® MAE 100 P in 665 g of water, stir for 2 – 3 hours and add the propylene glycol.

II. Suspend the pigments and talc in 103 g of well stirred water and homogenize in a disk mill or in a colloid mill.

Add the pigment suspension II to the well stirred polymer suspension I. Stir the spray suspension obtained throughout the coating process.

3. Coating conditions (Accela Cota® 24’’, Manesty) Inlet air temperature 50 °C Outlet air temperature 37 °C Core temperature 32 °C Spray rate 40 g/min Spray pressure 2.0 bar Spraying time (continuous) 30 min Quantity of solids applied 3 – 4 mg/cm2

3 mg of solids/cm2 of the spray formulation as described in Table 2.1 were sprayed onto 5 kg of cores. Subsequently, the release of active ingredient from the coated tablets was determined after 2 hours of immersion in syn-thetic gastric juice and then in synthetic intestinal fluid and compared with that of uncoated cores in synthetic intestinal fluid only. Fig 2.3 shows that the tablets were fully gastric juice-resistant and that active ingredient release from the tablets after changing the medium was almost as fast as from the uncoated cores.

65

Rel

ease

of a

ctiv

e in

gred

ient

, %

Time, min

0

20

40

60

80

100

403530252015105120906030

Coated tablets

Uncoated tablets(Phosphate buffer only)

0.1 N HCI Phosphate buffer pH 6.8

Fig. 2.3: Release of acetylsalicylic acid from tablets coated with Kollicoat® MAE grades compared with uncoated cores

Kollicoat® MAE 100 P can also be applied in the form of a non-aqueous system, i.e. a solution in organic solvents such as a mixture of ethanol or 2-propanol and acetone.

2.1.3 Enteric coating of pellets and crystals

Gastric juice-resistant (enteric) pellets or crystals are also produced for mar-keting as hard gelatine capsules; these are filled into the capsules. The main difference in comparison to the enteric coating of tablets is the needed total amount of gastroresistent polymer. This is explained by the higher surface of pellets and even higher surface of crystals. In the case of crystals the weight increase can be until 30 % of solids. In the following example of diclofenac pellets about 20 % of coating solids was applied. For this application test, uncoated diclofenac drug pellets were produced with the following compo-sition:Sodium diclofenac 10 %, Kollidon® VA64 2.5 %, microcrystalline cellulose 43.7 %, lactose monohydrate 43.7 %. The pellets, rendered spherical, had a diameter of 0.8 – 1.2 mm.

The spray suspensions containing both Kollicoat® MAE grades were pro-duced in the composition shown in Table 2.2 with a solid content of 22 % and a polymer content of 15 %. The indicated amounts and coating condi-tions were designed for coating 5 kg of pellets in a Kugelcoater of Hüttlin.

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Table 2.2: Enteric film-coating of diclofenac drug pellets (for 5 kg of pellets)

1. Formulation of spray suspension I. Polymer suspension: Alternative I: Kollicoat® MAE 30 DP 2250.0 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 67.5 g Water 1435.0 g Alternative II: Kollicoat® MAE 100 P 675.0 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 67.5 g Water 3010.5 g II. Pigment suspension: Titanium dioxide 45.5 g Talc 180.0 g Kollidon® 30 22.5 g Water. 500.0 g Total (I + II): 4500.0 g

2. Procedur I. Mix 1,2-propylene glycol with water and stir in Kollicoat® MAE

30DP or suspend Kollicoat® MAE 100 P in water, stir for 2 – 3 hours and add the propylene glycol.

II. Suspend the pigments and talc in the well stirred solution of Kollidon® 30 and homogenize in a disk mill or in a colloid mill.

Add the pigment suspension II to the well stirred polymer suspension I. Stir the spray suspension obtained throughout the coating process.

3. Coating conditions (Kugelcoater HKC 5 TJ, Hüttlin) Inlet air temperature 60 °C Outlet air temperature 32-35 °C Spray rate 45 g/min Spraying time (continuous) 100 min Quantity of solids applied 3 mg/ cm2

The release of the enteric sodium diclofenac pellets produced according to Table 2.2 was tested by placing the coated pellets in artificial gastric juice for a period of 2 hours and subsequently in artificial intestinal fluid. During the first 2 hours (pH 1) no drug release was observed and during the follow-ing 55 min almost 100 % of diclofenac sodium were dissolved.

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2.2 Sustained-release coating of pellets

2.2.1 Pellet film-coating with Kollicoat® SR 30D

Plasticity, a low minimum film-forming temperature and an absence of tack make Kollicoat® SR 30 D (30 % dispersion of polyvinyl acetate and Kollidon® 30 in the ratio 9:1 in water) an excellent film-forming agent for sustained- release pellets. For this application drug pellets or drug layered nonpareilles can be used.

In the unlikely event that a plasticizer is required, 5 – 10 % 1,2-propylene glycol is quite adequate. The pellets obtained can be marketed as such or filled into hard gelatin capsules.

The formulation for ambroxol sustained-release pellets in Table 2.3 is a typical example of this application of Kollicoat® SR 30 D on drug layered nonpareilles which were produced by coating commercially available placebo pellets with a coating of the active ingredient ambroxol hydrochloride and Kollicoat® IR or HPMC 2910.800 g of these drug layered nonpareilles were film coated with 5, 10, 15 and 20 % of a colourless film coating in a fluidized bed granulator GPCG1 (Glatt) using a process according to Wurster and the amounts and spraying conditions listed in Table 2.3. To prepare the spray suspension, plasticizer triethyl acetate was mixed with water and Kollicoat® SR 30D stirred in. Separately, talcum was suspended in water and homogenized with a high-speed stirrer. The talcum suspension was then stirred into the polymer suspension. During the entire spraying process the spray suspension thus obtained was continuously stirred.

Table 2.3: Sustained-release coating of ambroxol-HCl pellets

1. Formulation of colourless spray suspension I. Kollicoat® SR 30 D 533 g Tritethyl citrate 16 g Water 433 g II. Talcum 56 g Water 100 g

2. Uncoated pellets (batch size) 800 g

3. Coating conditions (Fluidized bed granulator Glatt CPCG1) Inlet air temperature 50 – 55 °C Outlet air temperature 29 – 32 °C Pellet temperature 35 – 40 °C Spray pressure 1.2 bar Amount of inlet air 90 m3/h Spray nozzle 1.2 mm Spraying time 220 min Subsequent drying 15 min/40 °C Coating amount applied 5 – 20 % solids

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Measurement of the release of active ingredient ambroxol-HCl from the pellets was carried out under the following conditions: 0 – 24 h in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 at 37 °C and 100 rpm. Active ingredient release was measured using coating amounts between 5 and 20 %. Fig. 2.4 shows that between 15 and 20 % coating there is no strong difference and that in this case a coating of about 10 % would be appropriate for active ingredient release over a period of 24 h.

Rel

ease

of a

ctiv

e in

gred

ient

, %

Time, h

0

20

40

60

80

100

5% coating

24201612840

10% coating15% coating20% coating

Fig. 2.4: Release of sustained-release ambroxol-HCl pellets

2.2.2 Pellet film-coating with Kollicoat® EMM 30D

Kollicoat® EMM 30D is the 30 % aqueous dispersion of polyacrylate (ethyl acrylate – methyl methacrylate 2:1 copolymer) for sustained-release dosage forms that also features high plasticity and a good retarding effect.

The one disadvantage of Kollicoat® EMM 30D as a film former is its tackiness. For this reason, practically all formulations must include an anti-tack agent. The most widely used agent of this type is talcum; however, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), hypromellose and simethicon are also suitable. However, MCC and hypromellose have some influence on the sustained-release effect of the polymer. This is schematically illustrated in Fig. 2.5. In the case of hypro-mellose 2910, type 3 mPa.s (HPMC), this side-effect is strongest; for, as fast as the tackiness decreases with increase in concentration, the more the sustained-release effect of Kollicoat® EMM decreases due to its pore forming effect. In the case of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), the sustained-release

69

effect is not so strongly reduced but its influence on tackiness is consider-ably less than in the case of hypromellose. The fact that talcum in concen-trations normally used has practically no effect on the sustained-release effect explains why it is the most widely used anti-tack agent. The effect of talcum can be enhanced in the case of Kollicoat® EMM 30D films by com-bining with simethicon.

Sustained release effect Tackiness

Microcryst.Cellulose

Hypromellose

Talc(+ simethicone)

Concentration of antiadhesive

Fig. 2.5: Effect of some anti-tack agents in pellet coating formulations with Kollicoat® EMM 30 D

Kollicoat® EMM 30 D is processed for the sustained-release pellet coating by the same methods as Kollicoat® SR 30 D. Plasticizers are never required. Also for this application drug pellets or drug layered nonpareilles can be used.

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2.3 Sustained-release tablets

2.3.1 Direct compression

Kollidon® SR

Kollidon® SR is the spray-dried form of polyvinyl acetate stabilized by the addition of 19 % Kollidon® 30, and is a free-flowing powder. This makes it ideal for direct compression. When it is compressed, it forms a matrix structure from which the active ingredient is released gradually. The Kollidon® 30 also forms pores in this matrix from which the active ingredient is released mainly by diffusion. Other excipients that swell or dissolve in water such as lactose monohydrate, Ludipress® LCE or Kollidon® CL-M can also be considered as pore-formers.

The quantity of Kollidon® SR required to extend drug release over a period of 20 – 24 hours depends mainly on the particle size and the solubility of the active ingredient. For a soluble active ingredient more than the double concentration of Kollidon® SR would needed in the tablet in comparison with a slightly soluble active ingredient. The usual amount of Kollidon® SR lies in the range of 20 – 50 % of the weight of the tablets. The smallest quantity required to form an adequate matrix usually is about 15 %, even if the active ingredient is insoluble (e.g. theophylline) and present in a low dosage. It is usually necessary to include a hydrophilic component such as lactose or a pore-former such as Kollidon® CL or Kollidon® 30 with insoluble active substances.

The following concentrations of Kollidon® SR in the tablets can be taken as a guide in most cases:– Soluble drugs: 40 – 60 %– Less soluble drugs: 30 – 40 %– Sparingly soluble drugs: 15 – 30 %

On the other hand the variation of the quantity of Kollidon® SR in the tablet can be used for the adjustment of the release profile of the tablet of a given active ingredient. Fig. 2.6 shows the effect of using different quantities of Kollidon® SR on the release of caffeine, a soluble active ingredient.

Rel

ease

d d

rug

(%)

80 mg Kollidon® SR

120 mg Kollidon® SR

160 mg Kollidon® SR

0

25

50

75

100

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

Time (h)

Fig. 2.6: Influence of the amount of Kollidon® SR on the release of caffeine sustained-release matrix tablets (Caffeine 160 mg, Kollidon® SR 80 – 160 mg, Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 3.4 mg, magnesium stearate 1.6 mg) 71

To demonstrate the application of Kollidon® SR in a sustained-release matrix tablet of a soluble active ingredient obtained by direct compression diclofenac sodium was selected. Table 2.4 shows the formulation for 100 mg active ingredient. It contains almost 50 % Kollidon® SR.

Table 2.4 Formulation of diclofenac sodium sustained-release matrix tablets with Kollidon® SR

1. Formulation of tablets Weight [g] [%]

Diclofenac sodium (Irotec) 100.0 48.4 Kollidon® SR 100.0 48.4 Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 3.4 1.6 Magnesium stearate 3.4 1.6

2. Manufacture (Direct compression) Pass all ingredients through a sieve, mix for 10 min and press on

a rotary press with a medium compression force.

3. Tablet properties Diameter 8 mm Weight 206 mg Hardness 195 N Friability < 0.1 %

The release profile of diclofenac sodium of the tablets of Table 2.4 was not completely 24 hours as shown in Fig. 2.7. The main reason was the relative fine particle size of the active ingredient used in this formulation.

0 2 4 6 8 12 16hours

% drug released

Medium: 0.08 N HCl (0-2 h),phosphate buffer pH 6.8 (2-16 h)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Fig. 2.7: Diclofenac sustained-release matrix tablets (Direct compression)

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Since the needed concentration of Kollidon® SR is relatively high for soluble active ingredients it would be even more suitable for less soluble active sub-stances. Table 2.5 shows an example of theophylline sustained-release matrix tablets with 21 % Kollidon® SR. This concentration could be lower by reduction of the amount of the pore former Ludipress® LCE in the formulation.

Table 2.5 Formulation of theophylline sustained-release matrix tablets with Kollidon® SR

1. Formulation of tablets Weight [g] [%]

Theophylline gran. (BASF) 500 53.9 Kollidon® SR 200 21.6 Ludipress® LCE 225 24.2 Magnesium stearate 3 0.3

2. Manufacture (Direct compression) Pass all ingredients through a sieve, mix for 10 min and press on

a rotary press with a compression force of about 11 kN.

3. Tablet properties Diameter 19.0 x 8.5 mm Weight 928 mg Hardness 172 N Friability < 0.1 %

Fig. 2.8 shows that the release of the theophylline tablets of Table 2.5 is even more extended than 24 hours. Therefore the concentration of Kollidon® SR could be reduced to obtain an release profile of about 24 hours.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 240

20

40

60

80

100

time [h]

drug

rele

ase

[%]

medium: 0.08 N HCI (0-2 h)phosphate buffer pH 6.8 (2-16 h)

Fig. 2.8: Release of theophylline sustained-release tablets with Kollidon® SR (Formulation see Table 2.5)

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2.3.2 Sustained-release matrix tablets obtained by wet granulation and compression

Kollicoat® SR 30D

In contrast to Kollidon® SR, Kollicoat® SR 30D is an aqueous dispersion of 27 % polyvinyl acetate and 2.7 % Kollidon® 30. It is intended not for direct compression, but for wet granulation of sustained-release matrix tablets or for film-coatings. In the case of sustained-release tablets, the minimum quantity of matrix former required is generally much less than with Kollidon® SR, as it does not contain 20 % of the pore former Kollidon® 30.

In this technology, the active ingredient, with or without filler, is granulated with Kollicoat® SR 30D and, subsequent to the addition of further excipients like extragranular fillers and/or lubricants, compressed to matrix tablets with controlled-release properties. When using standard amounts of polyvinyl acetate of 5 – 30 % in the granules, a matrix structure is formed on com-pression that encloses the particles of active ingredient. Subsequent to penetration of gastric juice or intestinal fluid into the matrix, the active ingre-dient is slowly dissolved; it then diffuses through the matrix at a controlled speed.

Like in the case of Kollidon® SR the drug release of tablets produced with Kollicoat® SR 30D is completely independent on the pH and on the ionic strength of the dissolution medium. An other important property of this poly-mer is its plasticity which avoids any influence of the tabletting compression force on the drug release. This is demonstrated in Fig. 2.9 by means of a tablet of the active ingredient propranolol hydrochloride. The dissolution of propranolol-HCl before tabletting and after tabletting applying low, medium and high compression forces did not show any significant difference.The needed amount of Kollicoat® SR 30 D for the sustained release of 20 –24 hours depends mainly on the solubility of the active ingredient. Its particle size also can have an influence but it is not so strong as in the case of direct compression with Kollidon® SR. The usual amounts of polyvinyl acetate in the granules lies in the range of 5 – 15 % for sparingly soluble or insoluble active ingredients and 15 – 30 % for soluble or very soluble active substances. Table 2.6 shows as a typical example of a soluble active ingredient that for propranolol hydrochloride only about 16 % of polyvinyl acetate are required in the granules as a proportion of the active ingredient which represents about 8 % of the finished tablet.

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Table 2.6: Sustained-release matrix tablets of propranolol hydrochloride (160 mg)

1. Formulation I. Propranolol-HCl 160 mg II. Kollicoat® SR 30D 110 mg Triethyl citrate 3 mg III. Microcrystalline cellulose 200 mg Magnesium stearate 2 mg

2. Procedure (wet granulation in a fluidized bed system) Granulate I with the mixture II in the fluidized bed (inlet temperature

about 55 °C, outlet temperature about 30 °C), mix with the components III and press with low compression force.

3. Tablet properties Weight 400 mg Diameter 11 mm Friability < 0.1 % Drug release see Fig. 2.9

The sustained release of the propranolol-HCl tablets of Table 2.6 is demon-strated in Fig. 2.9. There is neither an influence of the tabletting process nor an influence of the compression force in the range of 5 to 25 kN. The granules before tabletting gave almost the same release profile as the final tablets.

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

Granules before tablettingCompression force 5 kNCompression force 15 kNCompression force 25 kN

Drug release, %

Time, h

Fig. 2.9: Influence of the compression forces on the release of propranolol-HCl matrix tablets (formulation see Table 2.6)

75

In a similar formulation of propranolol hydrochloride as given in Table 2.6 the influence of the granulation technology was investigated, the parameters selected being tablet hardness and release of the active ingredient. It was found that the traditional mixer granulation produces tablets of considerably less hardness than with fluidized bed granulation. Fig 2.10 shows that the sustained-release effect with fluidized bed granulation is somewhat greater, i.e. with traditional mixer granulation the active ingredient propranolol is re-leased a little quicker. In order to compensate for this, a little more sustained-release polymer is required in order to achieve the same effect as with fluidized bed granulation. In other examples such influence of the granulation technology on the drug release was even stronger. Therefore, fluidized bed granulation is the rec-ommended technology for sustained-release matrix tablets.

Rel

ease

of a

ctiv

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gred

ient

, %

Time, h

0

20

40

60

80

100

Mixing granulator

242220181614121086420

Fluidized bed granulation

Fig. 2.10: Influence of granulation technology on the release of propranolol-HCl sustained-release matrix tablets with Kollicoat® SR 30D

The next example of a sustained-release matrix tablet with Kollicoat® SR 30D is given in Table 2.7 and based on the insoluble active ingredient carbamazepine. In this case about 7 % polyvinyl acetate is used in the granules and final tablets.

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Table 2.7: Carbamazepine sustained-release matrix tablets (200 mg)

1. Formulation I. Carbamazepine (Sintetica) 200 g Lactose monohydrate 148 g Kollidon® CL-M 20 g II. Kollicoat® SR 30 D 99 g III. Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 2 g Magnesium stearate 2 g

2. Procedure of wet granulation in Aeromatic Strea-1™ (Niro) Granulate mixture I with Kollicoat® SR 30 D (II) in a top spray

fluidized bed, mix with the components of III and press with medium compression force

3. Tablet properties Weight 407 mg Diameter 11 mm Form biconvex Hardness 136 N Friability < 0.1 %

The carbamazepine in the tablets formulated as described in Table 2.7 is released over a period of 16 hours (see Fig. 2.11). If the pore former Kollidon® CL-M is not included in this formulation the release of the active ingredient after 16 hours would be only about 40 %. Therefore this is a typical example of function and need of a pore former in sustained-release matrix tablets of insoluble active ingredients.

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 4 8 12 16 20hours

Drug, dissolved, %

Medium: 0.08 N HCl (0-2 h),phosphate buffer pH 6.8 (2-16 h)

Fig. 2.11: Release of carbamazepine controlled-release matrix tablets with Kollicoat® SR 30 D

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Kollicoat® EMM 30D

Kollicoat® EMM 30 D is an aqueous dispersion of polyacrylate (copolymer of ethylacrylate and methyl methacrylate 2+1) and is used in much the same manner as Kollicoat® SR 30 D. It is essential to reduce the greater tack of Kollicoat® EMM 30 D by adding an antiadhesive (for details see Section 2.2.2).

The formulations are very similar to those of Kollicoat® SR 30D but the quantities of Kollicoat® EMM 30 D required for the manufacture of sustained-release matrix tablets via wet granulation often can be somewhat less than those for Kollicoat® SR 30 D, as its sustained-release effect is greater. Generally a plasticizer never is needed for formulations of Kollicoat® EMM 30D because its plasticity is very high.

One of the goals of the theophylline tablet formulation given in Table 2.8 was to demonstrate how, by varying the amount of Kollicoat® EMM polymer, the release profile of the active ingredient can be influenced.

The active ingredient theophylline was mixed with a filler/pore former and this mixture sprayed with 5.0 and 7.5 % solid Kollicoat® EMM, based on the weight of granulate, directly in an Aeromatic Strea-1™ (Niro) fluidized bed granulator. The dry granules were mixed with magnesium stearate lubricant and flowability agent Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) for 10 minutes and then sieved. The mixture was compressed to 19 x 8.5 mm oblong tablets of approx. 800 mg weight with an active ingredient of approx. 400 mg using a com-pression force of 18 kN.

Table 2.8: Formulations and granulation conditions for theophylline sustained-release matrix tablets

1. Formulations No. 1 No. 2 (5.0 %) (7.5 %) I Theophylline powder (BASF) 400 mg 400 mg Lactose monohydrate 360 mg 340 mg II Kollicoat® EMM 30 D 133 mg 200 mg (= 40 mg solids) (= 60 mg solids) III Magnesium stearate 4 mg 4 mg Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) 4 mg 4 mg

Tablet weight 808 mg 808 mg

2. Granulation settings (fluidized bed granulator, “top-spray” method)

Inlet air temperature 55 °C Outlet air temperature: 22 – 27 °C Nozzle diameter 0.8 mm Spray rate Approx. 10 g/ml Spray pressure 2 bar

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The amount of Kollicoat® EMM 30D required in the theophylline sustained-release tablets is very low due to the insolubility of theophylline if no pore former is used. As can be seen in Fig 2.12, for the particle size of theophyl-line (powder, BASF) used, the amount of solid Kollicoat® EMM of 5 %, based on the weight of granulate, would be just right for release of active ingredient over a period of 24 h. This amount should if at all possible not be smaller as it might prevent the formation of the right matrix structure.

Rel

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of a

ctiv

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gred

ient

, %

Time, h

0

20

40

60

80

100

5% Kollicoat EMM polymer

24201612840

7.5% Kollicoat EMM polymer

Fig. 2.12: Influence of the amount of Kollicoat® EMM on the release of theophylline sustained-release matrix tablets

2.3.3 Compression of sustained-release pellets to tablets

Kollicoat® SR 30D, Kollicoat® EMM 30D

As tablets are the most popular and best accepted drug form, sustained- release pellets can also be compressed to tablets instead of being filled into hard gelatine capsules. However, in the case of pellet compression, the plasticity of the coating is even more important as these rounded particles have to be deformed even more in order to produce tablets with a sustained- release matrix and no hollow spaces. Thus, it is not possible to compress sustained-release pellets coated with the popular ethyl cellulose to tablets. Even if 25 % triethyl acetate was added as plasticizer to the ethyl cellulose, the release profile was significantly altered due to the mechanical stress of compression. The loss of sustained-release effect brought about by compression is disproportionately high and hence unacceptable in practice.

79

If the same pellets are coated using the identical amount of Kollicoat® SR film instead of ethyl acetate containing only 10 % instead of 25 % of triethyl acetate plasticizer and if these are subsequently compressed in the same way and formulation to tablets the release effect is not reduced as a result of the mechanical stress of compression.Electron microscopic photos showed that the pellets in this case were not destroyed but only deformed. For this reason, Kollicoat® SR 30D and also Kollicoat® EMM 30D can be regarded as excellent film formers for the tech-nology of preparing tablets from sustained-release pellets.

The sustained-release pellets can be compressed to tablets with various fillers; however, release is not always uniform as the pores and dissolution speeds tend to vary. Based on experience gained, the differences are not very great. Strongly swelling or strongly hydrophilic excipients such as micronized crospovidone (e.g. Kollidon® CL-M) accelerate release. In the case of sparingly soluble active ingredients such as theophylline or carbamazepine, hydrophilic fillers like lactose monohydrate in pure or granule form (Ludipress® LCE) or even Kollidon® CL-M are perhaps more suitable. For readily soluble active ingredients, microcrystalline cellulose could be the substance of choice.

To demonstrate this application of Kollicoat® SR 30D the ambroxol sustained- release pellets as described in Section 2.2.1, with coatings of 10 and 20 % solids, were compressed to biplanar tablets using direct tabletting technology in the formulation given in Table 2.9.

Table 2.9: Formulation of ambroxol-HCl sustained-release tablets from pel-lets with Kollicoat® SR 30D

Table 2.9: Formulation of ambroxol-HCl sustained-release tablets from pellets with Kollicoat® SR 30D

1. Formulation (direct compression) Ambroxol-HCl sustained-release pellets with Kollicoat® SR 30D (as described in Section 2.2.1) 250.0 g Microcrystalline cellulose 250.0 g Magnesium stearate 2.5 g

2. Tablet properties (compression force: 15 kN Weight 400 mg Diameter 10 mm Hardness about 100 N

The release of ambroxol-HCl from the sustained-release tablets produced according to Table 2.9 was not quite as linear as the sustained-release pellets prior to compression (c.f. Section 2.2.1); however, they produced release of active ingredient over a period of 24 h. The curve of the tablets made from pellets with 20 % coating was somewhat flatter than that with 10 % (Fig. 2.13).

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Rel

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of a

ctiv

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gred

ient

, %

Time, h

0

20

40

60

80

100

10% coating

242220181614121086420

20% coating

Fig. 2.13: Release of ambroxol-HCl sustained-release tablets produced from pellets with 10 and 20 % Kollicoat® SR coating

2.3.4 Sustained-release film-coating of tablet cores

Kollicoat® SR 30D

Normally, the manufacture of sustained-release tablets by coating instant-release tablet cores with a sustained-release coating is avoided; this is because the risk is too high of the active ingredient being released too quickly due to incomplete coating or, especially, damage to the coating. Using the example of sustained-release tablets containing metoprolol tartrate, propranolol hydrochloride or pseudo-ephedrine hydrochloride, it was, however, proven that this particular risk can be excluded in the case of Kollicoat® SR 30D as a film former. In this way, a very simple system for achieving sustained release is possible. This is mainly due to the plasticity and elasticity of Kollicoat® SR films, which enable the films to self-repair damage so that release remains unaffected. In addition, the film will not rupture should the core begin to swell during storage or during release of the active ingredient. To demonstrate this effect, Table 2.10 shows the elongation at break of isolated films containing 5 % triacetin and 10 % 1,2-propylene glycol as plasticizers in comparison with other sustained- release film formers ethyl cellulose and ammonium methacrylate co-polymer. The differences are so great that the surprising results obtained with Kollicoat® SR 30D become understandable.

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Table 2.10: Elongation at break of film formers with plasticizers (23 °C, 54 % relative humidity)

Sustained release Elongation at breakfilm former 5 % triacetin 10 % propylene glycol

Kollicoat® SR 30D 188 % 300 %

Ethyl cellulose dispersion 5.4 % 5.7 %

Ammonium methylacrylate < 2.0 % < 2.0 %co-polymer

In the coating formulation of metoprolol sustained-release tablets given in Table 2.11, the two co-polymers Kollicoat® SR 30D and Kollicoat® IR were combined in a ratio of 4:1 in order to increase the elasticity of the film. Experiments carried out with similar formulations containing propranolol-HCl and pseudo-ephedrine-HCl showed that the release profile could be altered by varying the ratio. The higher the proportion of soluble polymer Kollicoat® IR, the more quickly the active ingredient was released.

To produce the instant-release tablet cores, 4 kg of metoprolol tartrate were granulated with an aqueous solution of 100 g Kollidon® 30 as binder, dried, sieved and mixed for 10 minutes with the other excipients (3200 g dicalcium phosphate, 80 g talcum, 60 g Aerosil® 200 (Degussa) and 80 g magnesium stearate). The mixture was then compressed to biconvex cores with a weight of approx. 390 mg.

5 kg of the metoprolol tartrate cores were coated with a red spray suspen-sion of Kollicoat® SR 30D in an Accela Cota® 24’’ (Manesty). Table 2.11 lists the formulation of the spray suspension and the conditions of the film-coating process.

To prepare the spray suspension, the pigments iron oxide and titanium dioxide were suspended with talcum in an aqueous solution of Kollidon® 30 and Kollicoat® IR and homogenized. The pigment suspension was stirred into the separately prepared aqueous mixture of triacetin and Kollicoat® SR 30D. Kollidon® 30 in this case served as a suspension stabilizer to prevent sedi-mentation and agglomeration of the pigments. Kollicoat® IR is a very flexible film former that can also function as a pore former.

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Table 2.11: Red spray suspension and spraying conditions for sustained-release film-coating of metoprolol cores

1. Spray suspension Kollicoat® SR 30D 43.5 % Triacetin 0.7 % Kollicoat® IR 3.3 % Kollidon® 30 0.5 % Titanium dioxide 0.5 % Sicovit® red iron oxide 0.5 % Talcum 3.5 % Water 47.5 %

2. Coating parameters (Accela Cota® 24’’, Manesty) Batch size 5 kg Inlet air temperature 50 °C Tablet core temperature 35 °C Spray pressure 2.0 bar Spray rate 22 g/min Amount applied (solid) 4, 6 and 10 mg/cm2

The release of metoprolol tartrate was determined at three different applied amounts of coating. Measurement took place under the following conditions:0 – 2 h in 0.08 M hydrochloric acid, 2 – 24 h in phosphate buffer of pH 6.8, 37 °C and 50 rpm.

Fig. 2.14 shows that, for release over a period of 24 h, a coating of 10 mg solid per cm2 of tablet surface is appropriate. The S-curve is brought about by the fact that it takes some time for the water to penetrate the film and for the active ingredient to begin to dissolve before diffusing through the film to the exterior. The thicker the film, the stronger the affect achieved.

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Rel

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of a

ctiv

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gred

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, %

Time, h

0

20

40

60

80

100

Uncoated cores

242220181614121086420

4 mg coating/cm2

6 mg coating/cm2

10 mg coating/cm2

Fig. 2.14: Release of metoprolol tartrate from sustained-release tabletsas a function of coating thickness of Kollicoat® SR 30D

In order to investigate the sensitivity of the coating to mechanical stress and damage, two methods were selected that could well be described as being drastic in nature. In the first method – a friability test – the coated tablets were subjected to 500 revolutions in a friability apparatus with a falling height of 15 cm; thereafter, they were allowed to fall 20 times from a height of 1.5 m onto a stone floor. In the second method, the tablets were punc-tured with a needle in such a way that the coating was completely penetrated. Subsequent to both methods, the influence of release of active ingredient was determined. The results obtained were surprising, to say the least. In comparison with untreated tablets, not the slightest difference in release was observed (Fig 2.15). In the case of the punctured tablets, there must be some sort of mechanism whereby the damage is repaired. In this case, it is the high degree of plasticity that exists in the aqueous test medium that then, due to the swelling of the coating, closes off the holes.

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Rel

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of a

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ient

, %

Time, h

0

20

40

60

80

100

Untreated tablets

20191817161514131211109876543210

After friability testingPunctured tablets

Fig. 2.15: Influence of mechanical stress and damage to the coating of metoprolol sustained-release film tablets on the release of active ingredient

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2.4 Plasticizers

2.4.1 Propylene glycol

1,2-Propylene glycol is nowhere near as effective a plasticizer as other traditional compounds such as triethyl citrate, but its adverse effect on drug release is less. This is particularly important with tablet coatings that dissolve in gastric juice and tablet coatings that do not. Furthermore 1,2-propylene glycol has no negative influence on the tackeniss of the coating (see Fig. 2.17).

In concentrations of 10 – 15 % as a proportion of the film-forming agent, 1,2-propylene glycol considerably reduces the minimum film-forming tem-perature (MFT). Fig. 2.16 shows the effect of adding 1,2-propylene glycol to Kollicoat® MAE.

0% 10% 15%

Propylene glycol in Kollicoat® MAE

MFT [°C]

0

5

10

15

20

25

Fig. 2.16: Influence of 1,2-propylene glycol on the minimum film-forming temperature of Kollicoat® MAE

Typical examples of applications of 1,2-propylene glycol in formulations for tablet coatings are given in the Section of enteric coatings with Kollicoat® MAE grades.

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2.4.2 Macrogol as plasticizer

Lutrol® E 400

Liquid and solid macrogols such as Lutrol® E 400 can also be used as plasti-cizers, though relatively large quantities of some 20 %, as a proportion of the film-forming agent, are required. The tackiness of films is an important property in the practical application of polymer coating. In the case of Kollicoat® SR 30D films, this was investigated using the Hoessel method. Simultaneously, the influence of various concen-trations of the plasticizers macrogol, 1,2-propylene glycol, triethyl citrate and triacetin was determined. The results of this investigation are shown in Fig. 2.17, where it can be seen that macrogol and 1,2-propylene glycol have no negative influence on the tackiness. However, in the case of the other two plasticizers at a concentration of 10 %, based on the polymer, the tackiness, also perceptible by the finger test, exceeded the limit of 1.3.

Without

Tacky

Non-tacky

PVAc without plastic

Propyleneglycol

Macrogol Triethylcitrate

Triacetin0

1

2

3

4

5% Plasticizer in PVA

10% Plasticizer in PVA

Fig. 2.17: Influence of different plasticizers on the tackiness of polyvinyl acetate.

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2.5 Mucoadhesives for buccal tablets

Kollidon® VA 64, Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® 90 F

Both povidone (e.g. Kollidon® 30 or Kollidon® 90 F) and particularly copovidone (Kollidon® VA 64) are suitable for use as mucoadhesives in buccal tablets.

Mucoadhesive buccal tablets containing povidone or copovidone are typically used to administer such drugs as flurbiprofen, hormones, nicotine, morphine and verapamil.

Table 2.12 gives basic formulations for a mucoadhesive tablet that was de-veloped for morphine sulphate (20 mg). In this formulations, Kollidon® VA 64 was found to be far superior to Kollidon® 30 or Kollidon® 90 F, particularly as the mucoadhesive strength of the tablets made with it was many times higher.

Table 2.12: Mucoadhesive buccal tablet with Kollidon® VA 64 (basic formulations)

1. Formulations No. 1 No. 2 I. Active ingredient (e.g. morphine sulphate) q.s. q.s. Lactose monohydrate 76 g 76 g Carbopol® 934 (Goodrich) 4 g – Carbopol® 980/981 1+1 (Goodrich) – 4 g Kollidon® VA 64 19 g 19 g II. Ethanol 96 % 15 g 10 g III. Magnesium stearate 1 g 1 g

2. Procedure (wet granulation) Vigorously mix the components in I, granulate mixture I with ethanol

II, pass through a 0.8 mm sieve, dry, sieve again through a 0.5 mm sieve, mix with the component III and press into tablets using medium compression force.

3. Tablet properties (Formulations No. 1 and No. 2) Diameter 8 mm Weight 200 mg Hardness > 180 N Disintegration > 30 min Friability < 0.1 %

4. Mucoadhesive strength (in vitro) One drop of human saliva was placed on a glass plate and a tablet

was placed on this drop. After 7 min the force (N) was measured needed to pull the tablet off the glass plate perpendicularly:

Formulation No. 1: about 7 N Formulation No. 2: about 3 N

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3. Soft gelatin capsules

3.1 Carriers, solvents

Lutrol® E 300, Lutrol® E 400, Lutrol® E 600

Macrogols, usually in the form of liquid or semisolid mixtures, are used as carriers and solvents in soft gelatin capsules. Macrogols, e.g. mixtures of the Lutrol® E grades, have the advantage over the normally used oils that they are hydrophylic and therefore tend to enhance the bioavailability of the embedded or dissolved drug.

Nifedipine and temazepam are typical examples of drugs for which macro-gols can be used as a carrier in soft gelatin capsules.

1,2-Propylene glycol

Apart from glycerol, the most widely used solvent in soft gelatin capsules, it is also possible to use anhydrous 1,2-propylene glycol alone or, as is often done, in combination with glycerol. Typical examples of drugs with which 1,2-propylene glycol can be used in soft gelatin capsules are ibuprofen, cyclosporin and vitamins.

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3.2 Solubilizers in soft gelatin capsules

Cremophor® RH 40, Cremophor® EL

Macrogolglycerol ricinoleate 35 and macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate 40 (Cremophor® EL and Cremophor® RH 40) are used as nonionic solubilizers in soft gelatin capsules to solubilize the active ingredient or to improve the release and bioavailability of active substances (see also Section 1.4.5).

Because of the good miscibility and solubility of these solubilizers, their use does not depend on the carrier. This can be a vegetable oil or a specific triglyceride made from a vegetable oil (e.g. for vitamin capsules), or it can consist of macrogol, glycerol and/or 1,2-propylene glycol (e.g. for ibuprofen, cyclosporin or vitamin capsules).

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3.3 Antioxidants in soft gelatin capsules

alpha-Tocopherol

The fat-soluble antioxidants ascorbyl palmitate and alpha-tocopherol are used in soft gelatin capsules to stabilize oxidation-sensitive active ingredients. The quantity of alpha-tocopherol used usually lies in the range of 0.5 – 2.0 %.

Typical examples of this application of alpha-tocopherol are in capsules containing vitamins, carotenoids, omega fatty acids, isotretinoin and cyclo-sporin. This use is concentrated on capsules in which the carriers are vegetable oils and fatty acid glycerides.

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3.4 Colorants in soft gelatin capsules

Sicovit® Iron oxides

Though soft gelatin capsules, unlike the hard variety, are not always coloured, the use of colorants in this sector is not unimportant.

As in the case of tablets, (see Sections 1 and 2) pigments are increasingly used for this dosage form. The iron oxide and titanium oxide pigments are the most widely applied.

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4. Solutions

4.1 Solubilization for oral and topical use

4.1.1 Surfactants as solubilizers


The preparation of a microemulsion with the aid of non-ionic solubilizers is a traditional method of solubilizing active ingredients of low solubility. In this method, they are incorporated in the surfactant micelles which are so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye.

The comparison of different non-ionic ethoxylated surfactants in Table 4.1 shows that the formation of a clear microemulsion or of a turbid macro-emulsion does not depend on the degree of ethoxylation (ethylene units per molecule) but appearantly on the content of the free macrogol. All tested surfactants having a content of free macrogol lower than 6 % are emulsifiers. All non-ionic solubilizers like macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate 40 or macro-golglycerol ricinoleate 35 (Cremophor® RH 40 or Cremophor® EL) contain more than 12 % of free macrogol. An indirect proof of this theory was given by the extraction of the free macrogol from a solubilizer like Cremophor® RH40 or Solutol® HS15. After such elimination of the free macrogol part the solubilizing properties of the product are lost. The explanation is the formation of mixed micelles which have a stronger solubilization effect than normal micelles particularly if the free macrogol is combined with glycerol or sorbitol.

Table 4.1: Degree of ethoxylation and content of free macrogol in some surfactants

Surfactant Degree of Content of ethoxylation free macrogol (EO units per molecule)

Emulsifiers (macroemulsion) Macrogol cetostearyl ether 25 25 2 – 3 % Macrogol lauryl ether 9 9 1 – 2 % Macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate 7 7 3 – 6 %

Solubilizers (microemulsion) Macrogol hydroxystearate 15 15 27 – 37 % Polysorbate 80 20 12 – 16 % Macrogolglycerol ricinoleate 35 35 12 – 18 % Macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate 40 40 22 – 28 %

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The two products Cremophor® RH 40 and Cremophor® EL are excellent solubilizers for the oral and topical use. This applies particularly to Cremophor® RH 40 as its odour and taste in aqueous solutions is very low.

The principle of solubilization in a microemulsion is useful for lipophilic and strongly hydrophobic substances. Typical examples are the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K1, antimycotics such as miconazole, ethereal oils and constituents of these, fragrance oils, buccal antiseptics such as hexeditine and certain drugs such as ciclosporin, simethicone and tramadol.

In addition, many topical and buccal cleansing and antiseptic solutions also contain Cremophor® RH 40 as it acts as a detergent at the point of application.

As a typical example of a buccal application of Cremophor® RH 40, Table 4.4 (Formulation No. 1) gives a formulation for a mouth-wash containing alpha-bisabolol, the active principal of camomile.

As an example of oral applications of Cremophor® RH 40, Table 4.2 gives a formulation for a multivitamin syrup and Table 4.11 a formulation for vitamin A + E drops.

The two formulations in Tables 4.2 and 4.4 demonstrate that the solubilizer must always be heated with the lipophilic active before this mixture is mixed into the hot water as the continuous phase.

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Table 4.2: Multivitamin syrup (1 – 2 RDA/20 ml)

1. FormulationI. Vitamin A palmitate 1.7 Mio. I.U./g (BASF) 10.0 mg Vitamin D 40 Mio. I.U./g 0.05 mg Vitamin E acetate (BASF) 100.0 mg Butylhydroxytoluene 2.0 mg Cremophor® RH 40 4.5 gII. Water 10.0 gIII. Sucrose 45.0 g Methylparaben 200.0 mg Citric acid 80.0 mgIV. Glycerol 9.6 g Water 25.0 gV. Thiamine hydrochloride 15.0 mg Riboflavin 5’-phosphate sodium 15.0 mg Nicotinamide 55.0 mg Pyridoxine hydrochloride 15.0 mg Ascorbic acid, crystalline 300.0 mg Sorbic acid 100.0 mg 1,2-Propylene glycol 5.0 g Total amount 100 g

2. Procedure Heat I and II separately to about 60 °C and slowly add I to II with

thorough stirring to obtain a clear solution. Dissolve III in the hot solution IV to obtain a clear solution. Mix the cool solutions I/II, III/IV and V and adjust the pH value to 4.0 – 4.2. Purge the solution with nitrogen for 10 min and fill into bottles under nitrogen.

3. Chemical stability (20 – 25 °C; HPLC methods) (9 months) (12 months) Vitamin A 86 % 73 % Vitamin B1 88 % 83 % Vitamin B2 96 % 92 % Vitamin C 78 % 77 %

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4.1.2 Complex formers

Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30

One means of preparing an aqueous solution of a substance that is insoluble in water without using an organic solvent is to convert it into a soluble com-plex, e.g. with povidone. Kollidon® 25 and Kollidon® 30 can be used for this purpose in formulations for oral and topical administrations.

The quantity of complexing agent required depends on the type of drug in-volved and its concentration. It also depends to some extent on the grade of povidone employed: The higher the molecular weight, the greater is the solubilizing effect.

Important drugs with which this effect is used include antibiotics (e.g. amoxi-cillin, chloramphenicol and doxycycline), analgesics (e.g. acetaminophen and diclofenac) and particularly iodine which forms the well known povidone-iodine complex as water soluble disinfectant.

Table 4.3 describes an oral solution of a diclofenac complex with Kollidon® 30 as a typical example.

Table 4.3: Diclofenac oral solution (1.5 %)

1. Formulation Diclofenac sodium 1.5 g Kollidon® 30 2.5 g Sucrose, crystalline 40.0 g Water 56.0 g

2. Procedure Dissolve diclofenac sodium in the aqueous solution of the auxiliaries.

3. Physical stability No crystallization had occurred after storage for 2 weeks at 6 °C.

A further example is the formulation an acetaminophen solution with Kollidon® 25 given in Section 4.5.

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4.1.3 Poloxamers as solubilizers

Lutrol® F 68, Lutrol® F 127

Poloxamers 188 and 407 (Lutrol® F 68 and Lutrol® F 127) are also used as solubilizers in oral and topical preparations. Lutrol® F 68 is used primarily in oral preparations, while Lutrol® F 127 is preferred for topical and buccal applications.

Formulation No. 2 in Table 4.4 shows an application of Lutrol® F 127 in a mouth wash, in which it serves mainly as a solubilizer, even though it is combined with ethanol and 1,2-propylene glycol as well.

Table 4.4: alpha-Bisabolol mouth wash solutions (0.2 % and 0.5 %)

1. Formulations No. 1 (= 0.2 %) No. 2 (= 0.5 %)I. Alpha-bisabolol, natural (BASF) 0.2 g 0.5 g Flavour q.s. q.s. Cremophor® RH 40 2.5 g – Lutrol® F 127 – 5.0 g 1,2-Propylene glycol – 10.0 g Ethanol 96 % – 30.0 gII. Glycerol 5.0 g – Saccharin sodium 0.1 g q.s. Preservative q.s. – Water 92.2 g 54.5 g

2. Procedure Heat mixture I to about 60 °C and add slowly the warm solution II

(60 °C).

3. Properties of the solutions Clear, colourless liquid with a low viscosity.

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4.2 Solubilization for parenteral use


Kollidon® 12 PF, Kollidon® 17 PF

As an increasing number of active ingredients are inadequately soluble in water, and organic solvents are hardly used any more, solubilizers are finding increasing use in injectables.

As already described in Section 4.1, a number of products and mechanisms are suitable for this purpose. In the case of the low molecular weight povi-done grades, Kollidon® 12 PF and Kollidon® 17 PF the principle involved is that of the formation of a soluble complex between the substance and povidone.

Only povidone grades with a K-value of less than 18, which corresponds to an weight-average molecular weight of about 11,000, may be used for par-enterals in Europe.

The most important groups of active ingredients in human and veterinary ampoules for which these two grades of Kollidon® have been used up to now to improve solubility are antibiotics, e.g. doxycycline, oxytetracycline and rifampicin as well as further anti-infectives. However, a number of other active substances e.g. certain analgesics and antiseptics can also be solubilized with povidone.

Table 4.5 shows as an example of this application the composition of an aqueous oxytetracycline hydrochloride ampoule with Kollidon® 17 PF for veterinary administration.

Table 4.5: Composition of a commercial oxytetracycline injectable solution for veterinary administration

Oxytetracycline-HCl 5.70 gKollidon® 17 PF 10.00 gMagnesium oxide 0.46 gReducing agent e.g. sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate 0.50 gEthanolamine q.s. (pH)Water for injections to 100 ml

A further example of a formulation in which Kollidon® 17 PF acts as a solu-bilizer is a retard ampoule for veterinary use in Section 4.10.

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4.2.2 Surfactants as parenteral solubilizers

Solutol® HS 15, Cremophor® EL and Cremophor® ELP

As in the case with oral solutions (see Section 4.1), nonionic surfactants are also used as solubilizers in parenteral preparations. However, because of side effects such as the release of histamine, their suitability for use in an injectable formulation must be carefully checked. The only solubilizer that did not trigger the release of histamine in an animal trial was macrogol hydroxystearate 15 (Solutol® HS 15), so that this product can be particularly recommended for parenterals. Though Cremophor® EL is still relatively widely used particularly in veterinary formulations, it must now be declared on the package in Germany.

Solutol® HS 15 and Cremophor® EL are frequently used to solubilize lipophilic substances, in particular vitamins and liponic acid. But they can also be used to solubilize other hydrophobic substances e.g. diazepam, ibuprofen, paclitaxel, propanidid etc. A special purified grade, Cremophor® ELP is available for paclitaxel.

Table 4.6 shows the formulation for a vitamin K1 ampoule as an example of an injection solution for human use.

Table 4.6: Vitamin K1 (= phytomenadione) injectable solution (10 mg and 20 mg/ml)

1. Formulations No. 1 No. 2 Phytomenadione 1.0 g 2.0 g Solutol® HS 15 6.5 g 11.0 g Preservatives q.s q.s. Water for injections 93.0 g 87.0 g

2. Procedure Dissolve phytomenadione in Solutol® HS 15 heated to about 60 °C

and slowly add the warm water. The solution can be sterilized by heating to 120 °C or by filtering.

3. Properties of the solutions A clear colourless solution of low viscosity is obtained.

4. Physical stability (Formulation No. 1) After storage for 12 weeks at 20 °C and 40 °C, the heat-sterilized

solution did not show any change in appearance.

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Table 4.7 shows the formulation for one of the widely marketed veterinary ampoules with highly dosed vitamins A, D and E. This formulation gives a milky emulsion with very good physical and chemical stability. An indication of the bioavailability of the vitamins can be derived from results for a similar formulation in Section 4.7.

Table 4.7: Vitamin A + Vitamin D3 + Vitamin E Aqueous Injectable Emulsion for Cattle (500,000 I.U. + 75,000 I.U. + 50 mg/ml)

1. Formulation Vitamin A propionate 2.5 Mio I.U./g (BASF) 22.0 g Vitamin D3 40 Mio. I.U./g 0.2 g Vitamin E acetate (BASF) 5.5 g Butylhydroxytoluene 0.5 g Solutol® HS 15 15.0 g Benzyl alcohol 1.0 g Water for injections ad 100 ml

2. Procedure Mix the vitamins, Solutol® HS 15, butylhydroxytoluene and benzyl

alcoholat approx. 60 °C, and then add the water (60 °C) slowly and with vigorous stirring. After the ampoules have been heat-sterilized, they should be shaken briefly while still hot, to eliminate any separa-tion of the phases that may have occurred. Sterilization can also be performed by membrane filtration under pressure.

3. Properties of the solution Appearance: milky, pale yellow emulsion. Viscosity: less than 20 mPa·s

4. Physical stability (20–25 °C, protected from light) No change in appearance in 2 years.

5. Chemical stability of vitamin A Room temperature: 9 % loss after 1 year, 16 % loss after 2 years. 6 °C: About 10 % loss after 2 years.

4.2.3 Poloxamer 188 as parenteral solubilizer

Lutrol® F 68

Lutrol® F 68 is the only poloxamer that is used in parenterals. As in oral and topical solutions, it can also serve as a parenteral solubilizer (see Section 4.1.3).

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4.3 Thickeners

4.3.1 High molecular povidone

Kollidon 90® F

Kollidon® 90 F having a high weight-average molecular weight of more than 106 is used occasionally as a thickener in oral and topical solutions, even though rather higher concentrations are required than would be the case with some cellulose derivatives.

Fig. 4.1 shows the variation in viscosity of aqueous solutions of Kollidon® 90 F as a function of concentration.

When Kollidon® 90 F is used in aqueous solutions, it is recommended to add an antioxidant, e.g. 0.5 % cysteine, to stabilize the colour of the solution.

1

10

100

1000

10000mPa·s

0 2,5 5 10 15 %

Fig. 4.1: Dynamic viscosity of Kollidon® 90 F in water (20 – 25 °C)

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4.3.2 Poloxamer 407 as thickener

Lutrol® F 127

The poloxamer Lutrol® F 127 is also used as a thickener. The special feature of this product is that the thickening effect depends on the temperature, as is explained in detail in Section 6.2.

Table 4.8 shows a formulation for an antiseptic solution with povidone-iodine as the active ingredient. This thermo-gelling antiseptic is liquid at room temperature, but when it is applied to the warm skin or mucous membranes, the Lutrol® F 127 it contains causes its viscosity to increase to such an ex-tent that it thickens to a gel with good adhesion. This feature is of particular interest in the treatment of burns.

Table 4.8: Povidone-iodine thermo-gelling solution (10 %)

1. FormulationI. PVP-Iodine 30/06 (BASF) 10.0 g Sodium chloride 1.0 gII. Lutrol® F 127 15.0 gIII. Sodium hydroxide solution, 1 molar 4.4 gIV. Water 69.6 g

2. Procedure Dissolve the solids (I) in water (IV), cool to about 6 °C, dissolve Lutrol®

F 127 (II) in this and adjust the pH value with the sodium hydroxide solution (III)

3. Properties of the gelling solution Viscosity at room temperature viscous solution Viscosity on the skin (35–37 °C) gel pH (20% in water) 4.8

4. Stability (14 days, 52 °C) pH (20% in water) 2.5 Loss of available iodine 9.7 %

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4.4 Solvents

4.4.1 Low molecular weight macrogols: Lutrol® E grades

The low-molecular-weight macrogols Lutrol® E 300, Lutrol® E 400 and Lutrol® E 600 are used in liquid oral and topical preparations mainly as solvents.

They are frequently used in syrups, drops, sprays, and topical solutions with the following active ingredients:

– Acetaminophen– Clotrimazole, miconazole– Isosorbide dinitrate– Nifedipine– Nitrazepam, diazepam– Nitrofural.

Low molecular weight liquid macrogols e.g. Lutrol® E 300 and Lutro® E 400 are occasionally used also in parenterals as solvents. In such cases, they are often combined with nonionic solubilizers or with 1,2-propylene glycol.

The use of macrogols as solvents in injectables is not restricted to particular groups of active substances, though diclofenac sodium, etoposide, ibuprofen and nifedipine represent typical examples.


1,2-Propylene glycol is one of the few organic solvents that is still relatively widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. In contrast to ethanol, this also applies to preparations for oral administration.

Examples of formulations of oral solutions with 1,2-propylene glycol are given in Tables 4.2, 4.4 and 4.9.

Also in injectables for human use 1,2-propylene glycol is almost the only organic solvent that is still relatively frequently used. In such cases, it is occasionally used in combination with solubilizers or with liquid macrogols.

As with the low molecular weight macrogols, its use is not restricted to any particular active substances, but the most important groups are probably analgesics e.g. diclofenac and piroxicam, corticoids, vitamins, and sedatives such as diazepam and digitalis glycosides.

Typical formulations containing 1,2-propylene glycol for ampoules are given in Tables 4.10 (vitamin B complex) and 4.15 (closantel).

1,2-Propylene glycol in concentrations above 15% has a useful side effect in that it kills microbes.

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4.5 Taste masking agents


Povidone is capable of masking the unpleasant taste of some drugs to a certain extent, through the formation of a water-soluble complex. Kollidon® 25 and Kollidon® 30 are particularly suitable for this purpose in oral solutions.

Typical examples of active ingredients, some of which are described in the literature, whose unpleasant taste can be masked with povidone, include guaifenesin, acetaminophen, trimethoprim and vitamin B formulations.

This effect is demonstrated by the formulation in Table 4.9 for an acetamino-phen solution, in which the bitter taste of the drug is almost completely masked by Kollidon® 25.

Table 4.9: Acetaminophen solution (5 % = 500 mg/10 g)

1. Formulation Acetaminophen (Merck) 5.0 g Sorbitol, crystalline 5.0 g Cyclamate sodium 4.0 g Strawberry flavour 0.1 g Kollidon® 25 20.0 g Glycerol 15.0 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 20.0 g Water 31.0 g

2. Procedure Dissolve first Kollidon 25 and then the other solid components in the

solvent mixture of glycerol, propylene glycol and water.

3. Properties of the solution Clear solution of moderate viscosity with only a slightly bitter taste.

4. Physical stability The solution remained clear for more than 1 week at 6 °C and for

more than 3 months at 25 °C and 40 °C. The colour of the solution changed only slightly over 3 months at 25 °C and 40 °C.

5. Chemical stability (HPLC) No loss of acetaminophen was found after 3 months at 40 °C.

To avoid undesirable yellowing in aqueous solutions containing Kollidon® 25 or Kollidon® 30, it is recommended to add a stabilizer e.g. 0.5 % cysteine or 0.1 % sodium hydrogen sulphite.

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4.6 Drug stabilizers in solutions

4.6.1 Stabilizers of active ingredients in injectables

Kollidon® 17 PF

Low molecular weight povidone, e.g. Kollidon® 17 PF can be used to stabilize active ingredients in parenteral preparations. The mechanism of this effect has not been elucidated, but it may involve the formation of a complex.Concrete examples of the utilization of this stabilizing effect of Kollidon® 17 PF are found above all in the field of vitamins and taurolidine.

Table 4.10 gives the formulation for a vitamin B complex ampoule, in which cyanocobalamin is stabilized by Kollidon® 17 PF.

Table 4.10: Vitamin B complex injectable solution

1. FormulationI. Thiamine hydrochloride 1,100 mg Riboflavin phosphate sodium 660 mg Nicotinamide 4,400 mg Pyridoxine hydrochloride 440 mg Cyanocobalamin 880 µg EDTA, disodium salt 20 mg Propyl gallate 50 mg Kollidon® 17 PF 10.0 gII. Parabens 160 mg Citric acid 2,270 mg Sodium hydroxide solution, 1 molar 21.6 ml Hydrochloric acid, 0.1 molar 72.0 ml 1,2-Propylene glycol 20.0 ml Water for injections 86.4 ml Total amount approx. 200 ml

2. Procedure Dissolve mixture I in the buffer solution II, purge with nitrogen for

5 min, filter through a 0.2 µm membrane filter and fill the clear yellow solution into ampoules of 2 ml under nitrogen. The pH is about 4.

3. Stability (20 – 25 °C, dark) The following losses of vitamins were determined by HPLC:

Vitamin 9 months 12 months B1 8 % 11 % B2 6 % 10 % Nicotinamide 0 % 0 % B6 9 % 9 % B12 13 % not tested

Without Kollidon® 17 PF the loss of vitamin B12 after 9 months was > 50 %.

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4.6.2 Stabilizers of active ingredients in oral and topical solutions


Kollidon® 25 and Kollidon® 30 also stabilize a number of active ingredients in aqueous oral, buccal or topical solutions. Typical active ingredients that can be mentioned and are described in the literature in this connection are:

– Interferon– Iodine– Isosorbide dinitrate– Methylprednisolone– Nitroglycerol– Prostaglandin– Taurolidine– Theophylline– Vitamins.


1,2-Propylene glycol is used mainly as a solvent, but it can also stabilize certain active ingredients. The best known example is vitamin C. Results can be found in the literature such as those in Fig. 4.2 which show that 1,2-propylene glycol has a very strong positive effect on the stability of ascorbic acid solutions. Without 1,2-propylene glycol, the vitamin loss after 240 days is 81 % and with 50 % 1,2-propylene glycol it is less than 10 % after the same storage time.

Water Propyleneglycol + Water

1+1

Propyleneglycol

Vitamin content, %

0

20

40

60

80

100

Fig. 4.2 : Influence of the solvent on the stability of ascorbic acid solutions (240 days, 22 °C)

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The good stability of the vitamins B1 to B6 in the vitamin B complex ampoule in Table 4.10 is most likely also due to the 1,2-propylene glycol content in the formulation.

4.6.3 D,L-alpha-Tocopherol as antioxidant

The antioxidant D,L-alpha-tocopherol is particularly suitable for stabilizing lipophilic substances in oily solutions and aqueous microemulsions (= solubilizates). Vitamins A and D, and the essential fatty acids are the main substances concerned here.

The quantities of alpha-tocopherol required are rather higher than those of other antioxidants such as butylhydroxytoluene, but alpha-tocopherol is also approved worldwide for use in food.

A typical example of a vitamin formulation with alpha-tocopherol as an anti-oxidant is given in Table 4.11 for vitamin A + E drops.

Table 4.11: Vitamin A + Vitamin E drops (25,000 I.U. + 50 mg/ml)

1. FormulationI. Vitamin A palmitate 1.7 Mio. I.U./g. (BASF) 1.5 g Vitamin E acetate (BASF) 5.0 g Cremophor® RH 40 21.0 g DL-alpha-Tocopherol (BASF) 1.0 gII. Preservative q.s. Water 71.5 g

2. Procedure Mix the vitamins with Cremophor® RH 40 (and DL-alpha-tocopherol)

at 60 °C and then add solution II (at 37 °C) slowly, with stirring.

3. Properties of the solutions Clear, yellow, viscous liquids.

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112

4.7 Enhancers of bioavailability in injectables

Solutol® HS 15, Cremophor® EL

The use of nonionic solubilizers as a means of improving the bioavailability of active ingredients in injectables is of interest above all for lipophilic sub-stances such as vitamins.

Fig. 4.3 compares the bioavailability of an aqueous emulsion formulation similar to that in Table 4.7 with that of other commercially available formula-tions based on vegetable oils or organic solvents.

Vita

min

A, f

ound

in t

he li

ver

[%]

Aqueousemulsion

Organicsolution

Oilysolution

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Fig. 4.3: Bioavailability of Vitamin A in injectables after 7 days(intramuscular application in broilers)

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4.8 Film formers for topical aerosols

Kollicoat® IR, Kollidon® VA 64

The two film formers Kollicoat® IR and Kollidon® VA 64 described in the Section 1.6 for soluble tablet coatings are also suitable for topical aerosols. A typical formulation of an antiseptic wound spray with Kollicoat® IR is given in Table 4.12. This formulation was developed for the use as a manual pump spray but it would also be possible to add propellents and fill it in usefull aerosol cans.

Table 4.12: Antiseptic povidone-iodine wound spray

1. FormulationI. PVP-Iodine 30/06 (BASF) 10 g Kollicoat® IR 5 gII. Ethanol 96 % 43 g Water 42 g

2. Procedure Dissolve the components I in the mixture II and fill in flasks for

manual pump sprays.

3. Properties of the solutions Aspect brown, clear solution Viscosity low Drying on the skin fast, it forms a washable film Chemical stability (1 year, rt) less than 10 % loss of iodine

The main application field of Kollidon® VA 64 in aerosols actually is a topical veterinary spray of fipronil against parasits of dogs and cats.

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4.9 Lyophilization agents

Kollidon® 12PF, Kollidon® 17PF, Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30

Different grades of povidone (Kollidon® 12PF and Kollidon® 17PF for inject-ables and Kollidon® 25 and Kollidon® 30 for oral and topical preparations) can also be used as lyophilizing agents. They act as a binder in the same way as mannitol, holding the powder together during the freeze-drying process and preventing splashing, and also as a solubilizer or suspension stabilizer that facilitates reconstitution with the solvent prior to use by the patient.

Table 4.13 shows the formulation for an amoxicillin lyophilizate with Kollidon® 12 PF, taken from an old patent granted in 1979.

Table 4.13: Amoxicillin lyophylizate for injection (250 mg)

1. Formulation Amoxicillin sodium 6.25 g Kollidon® 12 PF 7.50 g Water for injections ad 100.00 ml

2. Procedure Dissolve the active ingredient in the well stirred solution of Kollidon 12

PF in water, freeze-dry, then fill 500-mg-portions of the dry lyophilizate into ampoules.

3. Administration Prior to administration, mix the dry content of an ampoule with 1.9 ml

of water for injections to give a clear injection solution.

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4.10 Sustained-release agents in veterinary parenteral solutions

Soluphor® P

There are very few sustained-release agents for parenteral use as almost all polymers are either degraded too rapidly, or eliminated too soon if they have a low molecular weight, or are eliminated much too slowly if they have a high molecular weight.

In the field of veterinary medicine, 2-pyrrolidone (Soluphor® P) has been used successfully for many years to achieve this effect in intramuscular injectable solutions, though at 30 – 50 %, the concentration required is relatively high.

Table 4.14 shows, as a typical example, a formulation for an oxytetracycline sustained-release ampoule, taken from an old patent from 1976.

Table 4.14: Oxytetracycline sustained-release injectable solution for veterinary i.m. administration (2.2 g/10 ml)

1. Formulation Oxytetracycline 22.65 g Magnesium oxide 1.92 g Soluphor® P 40.00 g Kollidon® 17 PF 5.00 g Sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate 0.44 g 2-Aminoethanol 3.84 g Water for injections q.s. ad 100.00 ml

2. Procedure Mix the water and the Soluphor® P, and dissolve the Kollidon® 17 PF

in the mixture. Heat the solution to 75 °C. Add the sodium formalde-hyde sulfoxylate and stir until dissolved. After the magnesium oxide has been suspended, slowly stir in the oxytetracycline until a clear solution is obtained. After the solution has cooled, adjust to pH 8.5 with aminoethanol.

3. Remarks High quality oxytetracycline and a complete absence of oxygen during

the manufacture and packaging of the solution are essential to obtain a solution with acceptable chemical stability. The reducing agent selected e.g. sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate must meet the regulations of the country in which it is to be used.

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4.11 Reduction of toxicity of active ingredients

Kollidon® 12 PF, Kollidon® 17 PF

The reduction of the local toxicity of some active ingredients by complexation with povidone is utilized not only in topical solutions with iodine, but also in parenterals.

The best-known example of such a drug is oxytetracycline, whose local irritating effect at the point of injection can be reduced by adding Kollidon® 17 PF. Another example is the closantel veterinary ampoule described in Table 4.15 in which the addition of Kollidon® 17 PF has been demonstrated to reduce the size of the oedema that appears around the point of injection by 80 %.

Table 4.15: Closantel veterinary injectable solution (12 – 20 g/100 ml)

1. FormulationI. Closantel 12.0 – 20.0 gII. Kollidon® 12 PF or Kollidon® 17 PF 9.0 – 12.0 g Sodium hydroxide, 50 % in water 2.5 – 3.0 g 1,2-Propylene glycol approx. 60 gIII. Sodium hydrogen sulfite 0.01 – 0.04 g Water for injections approx. 20 g

2. Procedure Dissolve Closantel in solution II and add solution III.

Sterilize by heating to 120 °C for 20 min.

3. Properties of the solution Clear yellow solution 4. Remarks The function of Kollidon® 12 PF or Kollidon® 17 PF is to greatly

reduce the local side-effects (e.g. formation of oedemas) and to increase the retention time in the tissue.

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5. Suspensions (Ready-to-use suspensions, dry syrups, instant drink granules)

5.1 Sedimentation inhibitors for oral and topical use

5.1.1 Micronized crospovidone

Kollidon® CL-M

One of the greatest problems in the development of formulations for sus-pensions is the prevention of sedimentation over the necessary period. Thickeners such as cellulose derivatives are traditionally used as sedimen-tation inhibitors to increase the relative sediment volume. However, these substances have the major disadvantage that by increasing the viscosity, they make it more difficult to shake up the preparation. An alternative that gives the same effect, but without increasing the viscosity, is therefore preferable. Kollidon® CL-M provides this alternative as a result of its special physical properties such as its low bulk density, its small particle size, its relatively high specific surface area and the low viscosity of aqueous sus-pension of the substance. Furthermore, Kollidon® CL-M does not reduce the zeta potential of the active substance particles and sterically holds them apart.

0 2 4 6 8 10

Kollidon® CL-M, g/100 ml

Viscosity, mPa·s

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Fig. 5.1: Dynamic viscosity of amoxicillin dry syrup suspensions with different amounts of Kollidon® CL-M

120

As can be seen from Fig. 5.1, oral amoxicillin suspensions with concentra-tions of Kollidon® CL-M up to 10 % can be prepared without exceeding a viscosity of 80 mPa·s. As the usual concentrations cover a range of 5 to 8 % Kollidon® CL-M (6 % in the case of the amoxicillin dry syrup), the change in viscosity is hardly visible. The suspensions were prepared by shaking amoxicillin dry syrups (amoxicillin trihydrate 5 g, sodium citrate 5 g, citric acid 2 g, sodium gluconate 5 g, sorbitol 40 g, Kollidon® CL-M 0 – 10 g, flavours 2 g, saccharin sodium 0.4 g) with the amount of water to fill up to the volume of 100 ml.

A other typical formulation for a low-viscosity oral suspension is the ibuprofen suspension given in Table 5.1.

Most of the suspension formulations containing Kollidon® CL-M as a sedi-mentation inhibitor, such as that in Table 5.1, contain a series of further ex-cipients that also help to stabilize the suspension. These include Kollidon® 90 F, sucrose and sorbitol as well as an ionic component such as sodium citrate, that also increases the sediment volume.

Table 5.1: Ibuprofen oral suspension (4 % = 200 mg/5 ml)

1. Formulation Ibuprofen (BASF) 4.0 g Kollidon® 90 F 2.0 g Sodium citrate 2.0 g Sucrose 25.0 g Kollidon® CL-M 8.0 g Water ad 100 ml

2. Procedure Dissolve sucrose, Kollidon® 90 F and sodium citrate in about 40 ml

of water, suspend Kollidon® CL-M and ibuprofen in this solution by stirring and add the rest of the water.

3. Physical properties of the suspension After 1 day After 1 month (RT)

Color Milky white Milky white Relative sediment volume 100 % 94 % Redispersibility Not necessary Very easy Viscosity Low Low Aspect Homogeneous Homogeneous

The effect on the relative sediment volume after a period of 2 weeks of vary-ing the concentration of Kollidon® CL-M in the ibuprofen suspension de-scribed in Table 5.1 is shown in Fig. 5.2. The small sedimentation obtained with the use of 8 % of Kollidon® CL-M can still be regarded as good, as the low viscosity of the formulation makes redispersion easy.

121

2 4 6 8 10

Kollidon® CL-M, %

0

20

40

60

80

100Relative sediment volume, % (14 days)

Fig. 5.2: Influence of the amount of Kollidon® CL-M on the sedimentation of an ibuprofen suspension (Formulation see Table 5.1)

Table 5.2 contains a formulation for acetaminophen instant drink granules as an example of a suspension that is prepared as required by the patient himself. These granules for suspension in water also contain sodium citrate and citric acid as further sedimentation inhibitors. As further benefits, Kollidon® CL-M completely masks the bitter taste of the active substance and stabilizes its content in the granules.

Table 5.2: Acetaminophen instant drink granules (250 mg or 500 mg)

1. FormulationI. Acetaminophen, fine powder 50 g Sorbitol Instant (Merck) 130 g Kollidon® CL-M 50 g Aspartame 7 g Orange aroma 5 g Strawberry aroma 5 g Sodium citrate 3 g Citric acid 3 gII. Kollidon® 90 F 8 g Ethanol 96 % 50 g

2. Procedure (wet granulation) Granulate mixture I with solution II, and pass through a 0.8 mm sieve.

Fill 1.3 g or 2.6 g of the free flowing granules in sachets corresponding to 250 mg or 500 mg of acetaminophen.

3. Administration form Suspend the content of one sachet in a glass of water.

The milky suspension has a sweet and fruity taste.

122

The use of Kollidon® CL-M as a suspension stabilizer is not limited to aqueous systems. It also stabilizes suspensions in organic solvents such as paraffin.

Simethicone oil can also be incorporated as active ingredient in homo-ge-neous instant drink granules with the aid of Kollidon® CL-M (see Table 5.9).

5.1.2 Povidone as sedimentation inhibitor for oral and topical use

Kollidon® 90 F, Kollidon® 30

Like Kollidon® CL-M, soluble polymers can also act as sedimentation inhibitors, since, above a certain molecular weight, they do not alter the zeta potential of the active ingredient particles.

Of the range of soluble povidones, Kollidon® 90 F and Kollidon® 30 should be mentioned for this application in oral and topical suspensions. Fig. 5.3 shows the effect of Kollidon® 90 F on the relative sediment volume of a oral carbamazepine suspension (Formulation: carbamazepine 2 %, Kollidon® CL-M 7 %, 1,2-propylene glycol 10 %, water 78 – 81 %). It can be seen clearly that even small quantities of Kollidon® 90 F are effective in reducing sedimentation.

0 1 2 3% Kollidon® 90 F

Relative sediment volume after 2 days

0

20

40

60

80

100

Fig. 5.3: Influence of Kollidon® 90 F on the sedimention of a carbamazepine suspension

In some formulations, Kollidon® 30 has proved superior to Kollidon® 90 F. This is not only because of the lower viscosity of its solutions. The sediment formed by the oral aciclovir suspension in Table 5.3 with Kollidon® 90 F was too compact. However, 3 % Kollidon® 30 was determined as the optimum for minimum sedimentation and easy redispersibility in combination with Kollidon® CL-M.

123

Table 5.3: Aciclovir oral suspension (2 % = 200 mg/10 ml)

1. Formulation Aciclovir 2.0 g Kollidon® CL-M 6.0 g Kollidon® 30 3.0 g Sorbitol, crystalline 28.0 g Citric acid 0.5 g Preservative q.s. Water 60.5 g

2. Procedure Suspend aciclovir and Kollidon® CL-M in the solution of the other

components with vigorous stirring

3. Properties of the solution Color white Relative sediment volume after 14 days 96 % Redispersibility after 14 days easy

Apart from their use in ready-to-use suspensions, instant drink granules and dry syrups, Kollidon® 25 and Kollidon® 30 can also be used to stabilize the pigment and spray suspensions that are used for coatings. Typical examples of this application are given in Sections 1.7 and 2.1.3.

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5.1.3 Poloxamers as sedimentation inhibitors for oral and topical use

Lutrol® F 68, Lutrol® F 127

The two poloxamers 188 and 407 (= Lutrol® F 68 and Lutrol® F 127) can also influence the sediment volume of a suspension. Table 5.4 gives a formu-lation for albendazole dry syrup. The suspension prepared by the patient by adding water contains 1 % Lutrol® F 68.

Table 5.4: Albendazole dry syrup (200 mg/10 ml)

1. FormulationI. Albendazole 4 g Citric acid 3 g Sodium citrate 3 g Sorbitol, crystalline 88 gII. Ethanol 96 % 22 g Lutrol® F 68 2 g

2. Procedure (wet granulation) Granulate mixture I with solution II, pass through a 0.8 mm screen,

dry and sieve again. Fill 50 g of the granules into a 100-ml flask.

3. Administration form Fill the flask containing 50 g of granules with water to the 100-ml

mark. The suspension obtained has no bitter taste.

A further formulation with Lutrol® F 68 is shown in Table 5.5 in the form of aceclofenac instant granules.

Lutrol® F 127 is recommended more for use in topical suspensions.

The use of poloxamers in suspensions is not restricted to aqueous systems. They can also be used to stabilize oily suspensions e.g. of antibiotics in vegetable oils.

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5.1.4 Surfactants as sedimentation inhibitors for oral and topical use


Surfactants such as macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate 40 (= Cremophor® RH 40) increase the wettability of the solid particles in a suspension and reduce the surface tension of the continuous phase. This prevents, among other things, the flotation of the particles and reduces aggregate formation, which increases the sediment volume.

Often even very small quantities of Cremophor® RH 40 suffice to achieve a stabilizing effect in a suspension. For example, calculation shows that the suspension prepared by the patient in a glass of water of 3.9 g of the ace-clofenac instant granules described in Table 5.5 contains only 0.1 – 0.2 % Cremophor® RH 40.

Since magrogolglycerol ricinoleate (= Cremophor® EL) has a bitter taste like polysorbate it is less suitable for oral dosage forms but usefull for topical forms like Cremophor® RH 40 too.

Table 5.5: Aceclofenac instant granules (50 mg)

1. Formulation (granules)I. Aceclofenac 1.3 g Orange flavour 4.3 g Sorbitol, crystalline 85.6 gII. Lutrol® F 68 4.4 g Cremophor® RH 40 4.4 g Water about 50 g

2. Procedure (wet granulation) Granulate mixture I with solution II, pass through a 0.8 mm screen,

dry and sieve again. Fill 3.9 g in sachets corresponding to 50 mg aceclofenac.

3. Properties of the granules Free flowing, water dispersing granules having almost no bitter taste.

The ability of Cremophor® RH 40 to improve the wettability of solid particles in a suspension is also used in suspensions for the sugar-coating and for film-coating of tablets.

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5.2 Redispersing agents for oral and topical use


Kollidon® CL-M

Kollidon® CL-M not only improves the physical stability of a suspension by slowing sedimentation and increasing the sediment volume, it also improves its redispersibility through steric separation of the drug particles and above all through its low viscosity. A clear distinction between the two functions of the low bulk density product Kollidon® CL-M cannot be recognized. Tables 5.1 – 5.3, 5.6 and 5.8 – 5.10 contain typical examples of formulations in which Kollidon® CL-M is used also as a redispersing agent.

5.2.2 Povidone

Kollidon® 90 F, Kollidon® 30

Povidone (e.g. Kollidon® 90 F or Kollidon® 30) dissolves in the continuous phase of a suspension as a polymer, separating the drug particles without lowering their zeta potential. Just as with Kollidon® CL-M, these two products can act as redispersing agents by increasing the sediment volume.

Table 5.3 shows a formulation in which Kollidon® 30 is used for this purpose in an aciclovir suspension.

Kollidon® 90 F has the same function in the formulation for the magaldrate suspension shown in Table 5.6. Because of possible problems with microbio-logical stability, it may be desirable to modify the formulation to obtain an instant syrup.

If the concentration of Kollidon® 90 F in the antacid suspension in Table 5.6 is varied, a significant change in the redispersibility of the suspension can be observed. Fig. 5.4 illustrates this effect, showing the number of inversions of the bottle required to obtain a homogeneous suspension, each 180° motion taking 2 seconds. It can be seen clearly that 3 % Kollidon® 90 F is the optimum concentration for ready redispersibility.

127

Table 5.6: Magaldrate suspension (10 %)

1. Formulation Magaldrate USP 10.0 g Kollidon® CL-M 8.0 g Sucrose 15.0 g Kollidon® 90 F 3.0 g Orange flavour 1.0 g Coconut flavour 0.05 g Banana flavour 0.08 g Saccharin sodium 0.02 g Water ad 100 ml

2. Procedure Dissolve and suspend all the solids in water under aseptic conditions.

3. Properties of the suspension No sedimentation after 24 hours

Very easy to redisperse after more than 2 weeks

0 1 2 3

Number of shakings neededfor reconstitution after 1 week

Kollidon® 90 F, %

0

5

10

15

20

25

Fig. 5.4: Influence of Kollidon® 90 F on the redispersibility of a magaldrate suspension (Formulation see Table 5.6)

128

5.3 Sedimentation inhibitors and redispersing agents for injectables

5.3.1 Low molecular povidone

Kollidon® 12 PF or Kollidon® 17 PF

In the same way as Kollidon® 30 and Kollidon® 90 F can be used in oral suspensions (Section 5.1.2), the two low molecular weight povidone grades, Kollidon® 12 PF and Kollidon® 17 PF are suitable for use in parenteral sus-pensions. Because of their low viscosity, they are usefull in injectables as sedimentation inhibitors and redispersing agents.

Typical examples of commercialized parenteral drug formulations in which low molecular weight povidone is used as a suspension stabilizer include benzylpenicillin, fluspirilen, methylprednisolon and streptomycin preparations.Table 5.7 shows a formulation for a parenteral antibiotic suspension with Kollidon® 12 PF.

Table 5.7: Benzylpenicillin + dihydrostreptomycin injectable suspension (200,000 units + 200 mg/ml)

1. FormulationI. Procaine benzylpenicillin 20.0 g Dihydrostreptomycin sulfate 20.0 gII. Kollidon® 12 PF 0.5 g Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium 0.5 g Sodium citrate 0.6 g Parabens q.s. Water for injections ad 100 ml

2. Procedure Prepare solution II, suspend the components I in the well stirred

solution II and pass through a colloid mill.

3. Properties A white homogeneous suspension is obtained.

5.3.2 Surfactants as sedimentation inhibitors and redispersing agents for injectables

Solutol® HS 15

Just as Cremophor® RH 40 can be recommended as a sedimentation inhib-itor and redispersing agent in oral suspensions (Section 5.1.4), macrogol hydroxystearate 15 (= Solutol® HS 15) is suitable for use in parenteral sus-pensions for the same purpose.

It gives solutions of low viscosity in water, even at high concentrations of up to 30 %.

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5.4 Crystallization inhibitors and solubilizers in suspensions

5.4.1 Solvent


In some suspensions, it is important to ensure that the relatively small pro-portion of dissolved active ingredient does not crystallize out, as this could change the physical properties of the suspension and its stability. 1,2-Propylene glycol is a solvent that can prevent such crystallization.

The formulation for a carbamazepine suspension in Table 5.8 is a typical example. In the presence of water, the small proportion of dissolved carba-mazepine has a tendency to change into the hydrate which, however, is less soluble and can therefore crystallize out as needles. The addition of 20 % 1,2-propylene glycol prevents this phenomenon.

Table 5.8: Carbamazepine oral suspension (2 %)

1. Formulation Carbamazepine (Flavine) 2.0 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 20.0 g Kollidon® 90 F 3.0 g Saccharin sodium 0.1 g Sodium citrate 1.0 g Sorbitol, crystalline 25.0 g Kollidon® CL-M 7.0 g Water 41.9 g

2. Procedure Stir the mixture of carbamazepine and 1,2-propylene glycol for at

least 2 hours, add Kollidon® 90 F, saccharin, sodium citrate and the water and stir again until these components are dissolved. Dissolve sorbitol in this mixture and add Kollidon® CL-M to the well stirred suspension to obtain a homogeneous suspension.

3. Properties of the suspension After 1 day After 1 month (RT) Colour Milky white Milky white Relative sedimentation volume 100 % 98 % Redispersibility Not needed Very easy Structure of the sediment Very fine particles, Very fine particles, no crystals no crystals Viscosity Very low Very low

130

5.4.2 Surfactants as solubilizers in suspensions


The solubilizers macrogolglycerol ricinoleate 35, macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate 40 and macrogol hydroxystearate 15 (Cremophor® EL and Cremo-phor® RH40 for oral use and Solutol® HS15 for injectables) solubilize the active ingredients not only in solutions but also in suspensions. Here, they act in a similar manner to 1,2-propylene glycol in preventing the dissolved part of the active ingredient from recrystallizing, stabilizing the physical properties of the suspension.

The solubilizing effect of Cremophor® RH 40 is also used in oral and topical suspensions for incorporating lipophilic drugs, fragrances and flavours (e.g. menthol in Table 5.10). The formulation for simethicone instant granules in Table 5.9 is a typical example for the solubilization and emulsification of an active ingredient. In this case, a milk-like combination of emulsion and suspension is obtained as soon as the patient adds the granules to water.

Table 5.9: Simethicone instant granules (60 mg and 120 mg)

1. FormulationI. Simethicone (Abil® 200, Goldschmidt) 10.0 g Cremophor® RH 40 5.0 gII. Kollidon® VA 64 3.0 g Ethanol 40.0 gIII. Sorbitol, crystalline (Merck) 50.0 g Fructose (Merck) 50.0 g Kollidon® CL-M 50.0 g Orange flavour (Dragoco) 0.5 g

2. Procedure Introduce solution II into the mixture I, granulate the powder mixture III

with the well stirred mixture I/II, dry and pass through a 1 mm sieve.Fill 1 g or 2 g portions into sachets.

3. Properties of the granules – Free-flowing white granules; – 98 % coarser than 50 µm; – Easily dispersing in water; no physical separation within 30 min.

4. Administration Disperse the contents of one sachet (1 g = 60 mg simethicone or

2 g = 120 mg simethicone) in about 100 ml of drinking water.

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5.4.3 Macrogols

Lutrol® E 400, Lutrol® E 600

Macrogols of low molecular weight are also used in parenteral suspensions, and particularly in crystal suspensions. This is of interest for drugs such as corticoids, e.g. methylprednisolone or triamcinolone and hormone deriva-tives, e.g. medroxyprogesterone.

132

5.5 Taste masking agents in suspensions


Kollidon® CL-M

Kollidon® CL-M not only improves the physical stability and redispersibility of oral suspensions, it is also able to mask partly or completely the unpleas-ant taste of a series of active ingredients. The mechanism of this effect is unknown, but it has been found with most formulations that a relatively large quantity of Kollidon® CL-M is required in relation to the drug. In low-dose preparations, this presents no problems, but in high dose preparations such as acetaminophen chewable tablets, it can be costly, and difficult to obtain a workable formulation.

Kollidon® CL-M has proved particularly suitable for taste masking in instant drink granules and dry syrups. Typical examples of this application are the formulations for acetaminophen instant granules and azithromycin dry syrup in Tables 5.2 and 5.10

Table 5.10: Azithromycin dry syrup (5 % = 500 mg/10 ml)

1. FormulationI. Azithromycin dihydrate 5.0 g Sodium citrate 5.0 g Citric acid 2.0 g Sucrose 60.0 g Sodium cyclamate 0.5 g Kollidon® CL-M 9.0 gII. Ethanol 9.0 g Menthol, crystalline 0.5 g Cremophor® RH 40 0.3 g

2. Procedure (wet granulation) Mixture I is granulated with solution II. The granules obtained are

passed through a 1.0 mm sieve and dried at room temperature. Fill 83 g of the granules into a 100 ml flask.

3. Administration form Shake 83 g of the granules with drinking water and fill the flask to the

100 ml mark. The suspension obtained has practically no bitter taste.

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5.5.2 Poloxamer for taste masking

Lutrol F® 68

Poloxamer 188 (= Lutrol® F 68) not only acts to prevent sedimentation in oral suspensions, it can also partly or completely mask the unpleasant taste of a number of drugs.

The formulations for an albendazole dry syrup (Table 5.4) and aceclofenac instant granules (Table 5.5) are typical examples of this effect.

134

5.6 Stabilizer of active ingredients in instant granules and dry syrups

Kollidon® CL-M

Reducing the susceptibility of active ingredients to oxidation and hydrolysis contributes greatly to improving the stability of a preparation.

Owing to its enormous water-binding capacity and high surface, micronized crospovidone Kollidon® CL-M acts as a strong desiccant in solid dosage forms such as instant granules and dry syrups. As a result, it is able to stabilize drugs that are susceptible to hydrolysis, and prevent chemical reactions such as interactions between vitamins, and their oxidation.

Table 5.11: Multivitamin instant granules (2 – 4 RDA of vitamins)

1. FormulationI. Vitamin A + D powder 250,000 + 50,000 I.U./g 200 g CWD (BASF) Thiamine mononitrate 26 g Riboflavin 33 g Nicotinamide 110 g Pyridoxine hydrochloride 22 g Calcium D-pantothenate 150 g Cyanocobalamin gelatin coated 0.1 % 66 g Ascorbic acid powder 1,150 g Vitamin E acetate dry powder SD 50 (BASF) 210 g Sucrose, finely ground 20,000 g Kollidon® CL-M 5,000 g Orange flavour 1,000 gII. Kollidon® VA 64 2,000 g Ethanol or isopropanol approx. 7 l

2. Procedure (wet granulation, fluidized bed) Pass mixture through a 0.8 mm sieve and granulate with solution II.

Fill 6 – 12 g of the free flowing granules into sachets.

3. Administration Suspend 6 –12 g (= 1 sachet) in a glass of water corresponding

to 2 – 4 RDA of vitamins. The uniform, yellow suspension obtained shows no sedimentation over a period of some hours.

4. Chemical stability After storage of the granules for 1 year at room temperature, the

following vitamin contents were measured by HPLC: Vitamin C: 94 % All other vitamins: > 95 %

135

The multivitamin instant granules in Table 5.11 represent an example of this application. With the exception of vitamin C, none of the vitamins showed any statistical loss after storage of the granules for 1 year at room tempera-ture. Even the loss of vitamin C was only 9 %. When the same granules were produced without Kollidon® CL-M, the losses of some vitamins were considerable.

The acetaminophen instant granules described in Table 5.2 are a further example of this application of Kollidon® CL-M. In an accelerated storage test at 60 °C over 2 months, the granules were found to have not lost any of their potency at all.

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6 Semisolid dosage forms (Gels, creams, suppositories, transdermal systems)

6.1 Emulsifiers

Cremophor® A 6, Cremophor® A 25

The two macrogol cetostearyl ethers Cremophor® A 6 and Cremophor® A 25 are excellent emulsifiers for the manufacture of pharmaceutical and cosmetic creams.

Even relatively small concentrations of these two Cremophor® A grades suf-fice to form a stable emulsion. The best results are obtained by combining the two products, as has been done in the formulation for a cream base shown in Table 6.1. This formulation is suitable for a wide range of active ingredients; they are dissolved in 1,2-propylene glycol prior to incorporation in the cream base. Typical examples of substances that have been tested in this formulation are betamethasone, bifonazole, clotrimazole, hydrocortisone and miconazole.

Table 6.1: Cream base for different active ingredients

1. FormulationI. Cetostearyl alcohol 7.0 g Cremophor® A 6 1.5 g Cremophor® A 25 1.5 g Liquid paraffin 12.0 g Parabens 0.2 gII. Water 67.8 – 69.7 gIII. 1,2-Propylene glycol 8.0 g Active ingredient 0.1 – 2.0 g

2. Procedure Heat mixture I and the water II separately to about 80 °C. Add the

water II to the solution of mixture I with vigorous stirring. Heat III until the active ingredient has dissolved, mix with I/II and continue to stir while cooling to room temperature.

3. Properties White cream

4. Physical stability No change in appearance was observed after 6 weeks at 45 °C.

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6.2 Poloxamer as gel forming agent

Lutrol® F 127

Poloxamer 407 (= Lutrol® F 127) is a gel former with special properties. Firstly, the gels it gives are stable over a relatively wide pH range of 4–8, and secondly, the gel formation is thermoreversible. However, it must be mentioned that the concentrations required are quite high, and that the gels obtained are slightly tacky.

The thermoreversibility of the gel is shown in Fig. 6.1. It has a gel structure between 25 °C and 70 – 80 °C, and is liquid outside this range.

Viscosity, mPa·s

Temperature, °C

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

16%

18%

20%

22%16%

18%

20%

22%

Fig. 6.1: Viscosity of gels of Lutrol® F 127 in water (Brookfield viscosimeter, rotation 250 rpm)

The curves in Fig. 6.1 show that a concentration of at least 18 % Lutrol® F 127 is required in aqueous solutions without other additives to obtain a gel at room temperature. There are various means of modifying these curves. The pH has only a minor effect on the position of the curves within the recommended limits of pH 4 – 7. However, the concentration of a number of ions has a definite effect. The addition of 0.9 % sodium or potassium chloride extends the curves to the right by some 10 °C, while higher concentrations, e.g. 5 % of the same ions shifts the whole curves to the left by 10 – 15 °C.

A formulation that takes advantage of this thermoreversibility is the thermo-gelling PVP-iodine solution presented in Section 4.3.2 that turns into a gel when it is applied to the skin.

The formulation for a topical ibuprofen gel that has the desired gel structure even at room temperature is given in Table 6.2. Further formulations with Lutrol® F 127 as a gel former in transparent gels and in a gel cream are given in Tables 6.3 and 6.5 – 6.7.

141

Table 6.2: Ibuprofen gel (5 %)

1. FormulationI. Ibuprofen 5 g Ethanol 96 % 10 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 10 gII. Lutrol® F 127 15 gIII. Isopropyl myristate 1 g Preservative q.s. Water 59 g

2. Procedure Dissolve II in solution III at 70 °C under vacuum, cool to 40 °C and

add solution I.

3. Properties of the gel A colourless clear gel is obtained.

4. Remark The function of the isopropyl myristate is to reduce the tack.

142

6.3 Solubilizers in gels, creams and suppositories

Cremophor® RH 40 and Lutrol® F grades

Nonionic surfactants are also required in semisolid dosage forms to solubilize the active ingredient. This applies in particular to transparent gels, but is also important for creams in which the active principle must be in a dis-solved or solubilized form, and not in crystalline form, for good absorption.

Because of its weak odour and good solubilizing power, macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate 40 (= Cremophor® RH 40) is particularly suitable for this purpose.

Table 6.3 shows the formulation for a mouth gel in which Cremophor® RH 40 solubilizes the insoluble active ingredient miconazole.

Table 6.3: Miconazole mouth gel (2%)

1. FormulationI. Miconazole nitrate (Sigma) 2.0 g Orange flavour 0.1 gII. Lutrol® F 127 20.0 g Cremophor® RH 40 10.0 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 10.0 gIII. Kollidon® 90 F 5.0 g Saccharin sodium 0.3 g Water 52.6 g

2. Procedure Dissolve I in the melted mixture II. Heat solution III to 90 °C and mix

slowly with I/II. Once the air bubbles have escaped, allow to cool to room temperature.

3. Properties of the gel A clear, colourless, soft gel was obtained, with an orange flavour and

a slightly bitter aftertaste.

However, solubilizers are also used in suppositories to homogeneously dissolve lipophilic active substances in a hydrophilic matrix, or to improve their absorption.

Table 6.4 shows an example of the use of Cremophor® RH40 in vitamin A suppositories.

143

Table 6.4: Vitamin A suppositories (150,000 I.U.)

1. Formulation Vitamin A palmitate 1.7 Mio I.U./g (BASF) 9 g Vitamin A palmitate 1.7 Mio I.U./g (BASF) 9 g Butylhydroxytoluene 1 g Cremophor® RH 40 40 g Macrogol 1500 80 g Macrogol 4000 50 g

2. Procedure Dissolve butylhydroxytoluene in the warm vitamin A, add Cremophor®

RH 40 and mix with the molten macrogols. Fill into moulds of suppositories to obtain the weight of 2 g.

3. Properties of the gel Weight 2.0 g Colour Homogeneously yellow Drop point 54 °C Macrogol 1500 80 g Disintegration in water 22 min (emulsion)

Poloxamers 188 and 407 (Lutrol® F 68 and Lutrol® F 127) can also be used as solubilizers in semisolid dosage forms just as in oral forms (see also Section 4.1.3).

144

6.4 Absorption enhancers in semisolid dosage forms


Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® CL-M

In semisolid dosage forms such as suppositories, creams and transdermal systems, medium molecular weight povidone (Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30) can be used to accelerate absorption and bioavailability.

Fig. 6.2 shows the effect of povidone on the release of phenobarbital from suppositories in rabbits. In the first 2 hours, the blood level increases by a factor of 3 as a result of the use of a coprecipitate of phenobarbital and povidone, and even after 6 hours, the blood level is still twice as high as without povidone.

0 2 4 6 8 10

Without povidone

Copreciptate withpovidone (1+3)

Blood level, mg/µl

Hours

0

5

10

15

20

25

Fig. 6.2: Absorption of phenobarbital from suppositories in rabbits

The effect that povidone can have in a formulation on the percutaneous absorption of hydrocortisone acetate is demonstrated in Fig. 6.3. Here, the absorption through human skin was increased several times, particularly after 60 min, and particularly if a coprecipitate of the drug and povidone was used.

145

after 30 min after 60 minR

elat

ive

vaso

cons

tric

tion

effe

ct

Withoutpovidone

With povidone,phys. mixture

1+2

With povidone,coprecipitate

1+2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Fig. 6.3: Percutaneous effect of hydrocortisone acetate on the human skin

Just as the use of povidone (e.g. Kollidon® 30) in traditional topical dosage forms e.g. creams to accelerate percutaneous absorption, its use for the same purpose in transdermal systems is also possible. Descriptions of its use with a number of drugs, for example bromhexine, captopril, diclofenac, flurbiprofen, isosorbide dinitrate, nitroglycerin and propranolol can be found in the pharmaceutical literature.

The micronized grade of crospovidone, Kollidon® CL-M can also be used to achieve a similar absorption-accelerating effect in transdermal systems. The effect derives from the formation of a complex with the active ingredient like in the case of povidone, as already described for oral preparations in Sections 1.4.2 and 1.4.3. A typical example of a drug to which this effect is applied is estradiol.

146

6.4.2 Solvent as absorption enhancer


The solvent 1,2-propylene glycol has also the function as a percutaneous absorption enhancer in semisolid dosage forms such as gels and creams (see also Section 6.5).

This effect is described in numerous publications. Typical formulations are gels with clotrimazole and triamcinolone. The concentration of 1,2-propyl-ene glycol can range from 5 % to 40 %.

6.4.3 Solubilizers as absorption enhancers

Cremophor® RH 40, Lutrol® F 68

As these two substances are used to improve solubility in semisolid presen-tation forms (see Section 6.3), it is highly likely that they will also improve the absorption of the solubilized active ingredients via the skin and mucous membranes in these dosage forms.

147

6.5 Solvents in semisolid dosage forms

6.5.1 Liquid macrogols

Lutrol® E grades

In semisolid presentation forms, the low molecular weight and liquid macro-gols (Lutrol® E 300, Lutrol® E 400 and Lutrol® E 600) are used as solvents or cosolvents in the solubilization process (see also Section 4.4.1), particularly in gels and creams.

As an example for the use of Lutrol® E 400 as a cosolvent in the solubilization of an insoluble active substance with Cremophor® RH 40, the formulation of a tretinoin + dexpanthenol gel is presented in Table 6.5.

Table 6.5: Tretinoin + dexpanthenol gel (50 mg + 2,500 mg/100 g)

1. FormulationI. Tretinoin (BASF) 50.0 mg Lutrol® E 400 5.0 g Cremophor® RH 40 6.0 g Butylhydroxytoluene 40 mgII. Water 68.4 g Dexpanthenol (BASF) 2.5 gIII. Lutrol® F 127 18.0 g

2. Procedure Add II slowly to the clear solution I at about 40 °C. Heat to about 50 °C

and dissolve about 4 g of III in I/II. Cool to about 6 °C and dissolve the rest of III. Maintain at this temperature until the air bubbles have escaped.

3. Properties of the gel A clear yellowish gel was obtained.

4. Chemical stability (12 months, 23 °C, dark) Tretinoin: 96 % Dexpanthenol: 100 %

5. Remark It is important to protect the gel from light to avoid the isomerization

and degradation of tretinoin.

148

Table 6.6 gives the formulation for a metronidazole vaginal gel that contains 40 % Lutrol® E 400 as an example for the use of this product as a solvent for the active ingredient.

Table 6.6: Metronidazole vaginal gel (1.2%)

1. FormulationI. Metronidazole 1.2 g Lutrol® F 127 21.0 g Lutrol® E 400 40.0 gII. Water 37.8 g

2. Procedure Heat mixture I to 70 – 80 °C and slowly add the water heated to about

70 °C. Maintain the temperature until the air bubbles have disappeared.

3. Properties of the gel A clear colourless gel is obtained.


Just as in liquid dosage forms, 1,2-propylene glycol is also used in semisolid forms to dissolve the active ingredient. With gels, this is important particularly for their appearance. However, with both creams and gels, it is important both for the absorption (see Section 6.4) and for the feel of the product when it is spread on the skin that the active ingredient should be in the dissolved form. A product that contains crystals is not at all pleasant to spread on the skin.

For this purpose, 1,2-propylene glycol is usually diluted with water to a con-centration of 5 to 25 %. Above a concentration of 15 % 1,2-propylene glycol, one can also take advantage of its properties as a preservative.

Table 6.1 shows a typical formulation for a cream base for a wide range of active substances in which these are dissolved in 8 % 1,2-propylene glycol.

Table 6.2 presents a transparent ibuprofen gel that contains, in addition to ethanol, 10 % 1,2-propylene glycol as a solvent for the active substance.

149

Table 6.7 gives the formulation for a diclofenac gel cream that contains 15 % 1,2-propylene glycol as a solvent for the active ingredient.

Table 6.7: Diclofenac gel-cream (1%)

1. Formulation Diclofenac sodium 1 g 1,2-Propylene glycol 15 g Miglyol® 812 (Dynamit-Nobel) 10 g Lutrol® F 127 20 g Water 54 g

2. Procedure Dissolve diclofenac sodium in propylene glycol, add the mixture of wa-

ter and Miglyol® 812. Dissolve Lutrol® F 127 in this well stirred mixture at 4 – 6 °C (or at > 70 °C). Maintain the temperature until the air bubbles have escaped.

3. Properties White, turbid gel-cream.

150

6.6 Carriers for suppositories and ovulae

Lutrol® E grades

The base for most suppositories is usually a solid mixture of fats, but often a blend of different macrogols is also used. This is particularly the case with vaginal ovulae.

Macrogols have the advantage that they are soluble in water, so that it is no longer essential that the suppositories should melt at body temperature. Also, the bioavailability of a drug can be much better from a hydrophilic macrogol matrix than from a lipophilic carrier.

Usually, two or three grades of macrogol are mixed for this purpose, e.g. Lutrol® E 400 or Lutrol® E 600 with solid macrogols. Typical examples of drugs that are used in these mixtures include diphenhydramine, indomethacin, metronidazole, acetaminophen and povidone-iodine.

Table 6.8 shows a formulation for acetaminophen suppositories.

Table 6.8: Acetaminophen suppositories (500 mg)

1. FormulationI. Acetaminophen, fine powder 50.0 gII. Lutrol® E 400 10.0 g Macrogol 1500 60.0 g Macrogol 4000 80.0 g

2. Procedure Melt the mixture II and suspend in it. Cast the melted mass into

suppository moulds.

3. Properties of the suppositories Weight 2.0 g Solubility in water readily soluble Color colourless

151

6.7 Bioadhesives and film-forming agents for transdermal systems

6.7.1 Povidone and copovidone

Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® 90 F, Kollidon® VA 64

Because of their excellent adhesive and film-forming properties, both povi-done (e.g. Kollidon® 25, Kollidon® 30 or Kollidon® 90 F) and copovidone (Kollidon® VA 64) are eminently suitable for use as bioadhesives and film-forming agents in transdermal and transmucosal systems, in much the same way as described in Section 2.5 for buccal tablets for transmucosal absorption. In many cases, povidone is also able to accelerate drug pene-tration (see Section 6.4.1).

The literature gives the following examples of active substances that have been tested with povidone in this application: captopril, diclofenac, dilthiazem, ephedrine, flurbiprofen, indomethacin, isosorbide dinitrate, promethazine, testosterone and verapamil.

As Kollidon® VA 64 is less hygroscopic and has greater plasticity, it is often preferable to the better-known povidone. Here too, a number of examples of its use can be found in the literature.

6.7.2 Polyacrylate as carrier film

Kollicoat® EMM 30 D

This polyacrylic dispersion (ethyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymer 2:1) also produces films with good adhesion to the skin and can be used in transdermal therapeutic systems (TTS).

A transdermal therapeutic system comprises various layers, a carrier film, a matrix film containing a reservoir of active ingredient and a removable cover film, e.g. made of aluminium. Sometimes, an intermediate adhesive layer can be inserted between the active ingredient matrix film and the cover film in order to improve adhesion to the skin.

As Kollicoat® EMM 30D forms neutral, adhesive and insoluble polyacrylate films that swell in water and are to some extent permeable to water and active ingredients, it is excellently suited to applications in TTS as an active ingredient matrix layer. As it also contains no functional groups, there is normally no interaction with active ingredient groups. A further advantage of the aqueous dispersion Kollicoat® EMM 30D is that organic solvents need not be used. In a similar way to matrix tablets, a high concentration of active ingredient can be used.

The speed of active ingredient release from polyacrylate films is dependent on the solubility of the active ingredient and, especially, on its concentration in the polymer and the thickness of the polymer layer. Fig. 6.4 shows the correlation between concentration and matrix film thickness for initial active ingredient concentrations of 0.5 – 2.0 mg/cm3 and film thicknesses of

152

100 – 500 µm based on in-vitro experiments. Should the percutaneous re-sorption be slower than the release from the matrix film, the skin becomes the speed-determining factor for bioavailability. Should release from the matrix film be too slow, resorption enhancers such as pore formers or emul-sifiers can be added.

0.0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.01.751.51.251.00.750.5

100 µm

200 µm

300 µm

400 µm

500 µm

Rel

ease

rat

e, m

g · c

m-2 ·

d-1

Initial drug concentration in the film, mg/cm2

Fig. 6.4: Active ingredient release from polyacrylate films in transdermal systems as a function of film thickness (100 – 500 µm) and active ingredient concentration in the film

For the manufacture of matrix film containing active ingredient, the active ingredient is suspended or dissolved in dilute aqueous Kollicoat® EMM 30D. If required, the viscosity can be adjusted by adding a thickener such as Aerosil® 200 (Degussa). Alternatively, other excipients such as emulsifiers can be added. Plasticizers are not required. The continuous manufacture of TTS usually takes place using the so-called blade coating process. The dispersion of active ingredient and Kollicoat® EMM 30D is applied to the carrier film as a product layer and dried. It is then applied to the film side of the matrix and covered with a film (e.g. aluminium). Using this process, matrix films up to 0.5 mm thickness can be applied.

155

7 Diagnostic products

7.1 Enzym stabilizers


In diagnostic and similar preparations that are used as reagents, povidone(e. g. Kollidon® 25 or Kollidon® 30) can also be used to stabilize enzymes,in addition to the fields of application in solid and liquid dosage forms givenin the previous sections.The complexation of enzymes is described in detail in many publications inthe scientific literature. Table 7.1 shows a selection of enzymes that can bestabilized with povidone.

Table 7.1: Enzymes that can be stabilized with povidone (selection)

AsparaginaseBeta-InterferonCatalaseDehydrogenaseFerrochelataseGalactosidaseGlucose oxidaseHyaluronidasePeroxidasePhenolaseProstaglandin EPyruvate carboxylaseTransaminaseUrease

156

Note

The data submitted in this publication are based on our current knowledgeand experience. They do not constitute a guarantee in the legal sense ofthe term and, in view of the manifold factors that may affect processingand application, do not relieve those to whom we supply our productsfrom the responsibility of carrying out their own tests and experiments.Any relevant patent rights and existing legislation and regulations must beobserved.

157

8 List of BASF pharmaceutical excipients and their pharmacopoeial monographs

Excipient Ph.Eur. Monograph USP-NF Monograph

alpha-TocopherolCremophor® A 6Cremophor® A 25Cremophor® ELCremophor® ELPCremophor® RH 40Kollicoat® EMM 30DKollicoat® IR

Kollicoat® IR WhiteKollicoat® Protect

Kollicoat® MAE 100P

Kollicoat® MAE 30DP

Kollicoat® SR 30D

Kollidon® 12 PFKollidon® 17 PFKollidon® 25Kollidon® 30Kollidon® 90 FKollidon® CLKollidon® CL-SKollidon® CL-SFKollidon® CL-MKollidon® SR

Kollidon® VA 64Kollidon® VA 64 FineLudipress®

Ludipress® LCE

Ludiflash®

Tocopherol, all-rac-alphaMacrogol cetostearyl ether 6Macrogol cetostearyl ether 25Macrogolglycerol ricinoleate 35Macrogolglycerol ricinoleate 35Macrogolglycerol hydroxystearate 40Polyacrylate dispersion 30 per centMacrogol Polyvinyl alcohol grafted co-polymer (published draft)–Macrogol Polyvinyl alcohol grafted copolymer+ Poly(vinyl alcohol)Methacrylic acid – Ethacrylatecopolymer 1:1 (Type B)Methacrylic acid – Ethacrylatecopolymer 1:1 dispersion 30 per centPoly(vinyl acetate) dispersion 30 per centPovidone (nominal K-value 12)Povidone (nominal K-value 17)Povidone (nominal K-value 25)Povidone (nominal K-value 30)Povidone (nominal K-value 90)Crospovidone (Type A)Crospovidone (Type B)Crospovidone (Type B)Crospovidone (Type B)Poly(vinyl acetate) dispersion 30 percent + PovidoneCopovidoneCopovidoneLactose monohydrate +Povidone + CrospovidoneLactose monohydrate + PovidoneMannitol + Crospovidone + Poly(vinyl acetate) dispersion 30 %

Vitamin E– –Polyoxyl castor oilPolyoxyl castor oilPolyoxyl hydrogenated castor oil– –

–

Methacrlyic acidcopolymerMethacrlyic acidcopolymer dispersion–

Povidone (nominal K-value 12)Povidone (nominal K-value 17)Povidone (nominal K-value 25)Povidone (nominal K-value 30)Povidone (nominal K-value 90)CrospovidoneCrospovidoneCrospovidoneCrospovidone–

CopovidoneCopovidoneLactose monohydrate + Povidone + CrospovidoneLactose monohydrate+ Povidone

158

For all excipients Technical Informations and particularly the books“Kollidon®, Polyvinylpyrrolidone excipients for the pharmaceutical industry“, 9th edition, and “Kollicoat® grades, Functional Polymers for the Pharma- ceutical Industry” are available. Most of these informations can be found under www.pharma-solutions.basf.com.

Excipient Ph.Eur. Monograph USP-NF Monograph

Lutrol® E 300Lutrol® E 400Lutrol® E 600Lutrol® F 127Lutrol® F 68Lutrol® micro 127Lutrol® micro 681,2-Propylene glycolSicovit® Iron oxidesSoluphor® PSolutol® HS 15

MacrogolsMacrogolsMacrogolsPoloxamer 407Poloxamer 188Poloxamer 407Poloxamer 188Propylene glycol– Pyrrolidone Macrogol hydroxystearate 15

Polyethylene glycolsPolyethylene glycolsPolyethylene glycolsPoloxamer 407Poloxamer 188Poloxamer 407Poloxamer 188Propylene glycolFerric oxide––

159

9 Alphabetical index of formulations, excipients and technologies

Formulation/Excipient/Technology Page

Aceclofenac instant granules 125Acetaminophen + acetylsalicylic acid + caffeine tablets 26Acetaminophen instant granules 121Acetaminophen solution 108Acetaminophen suppositories 150Acetaminophen tablets 13, 27Acetylsalicylic acid + vitamin C effervescent tablets 37Acetylsalicylic acid tablets 25Aciclovir oral suspension 123Adhesive buccal tablets (basic formulation) 88Aerosols 113Albendazol dry syrup 124Allopurinol granules (roller compaction) 15Allopurinol tablets 15Alpha-Bisabolol mouth wash solution 101Alpha-Tocopherol as antioxidant 93, 111Ambroxol sustained-release pellets 68 – 69Ambroxol sustained-release tablets 80 – 81Aminophylline tablets 35Amoxicillin dry syrup 120Amoxicillin lyophylisate for injection 114Antioxidant effect 93, 111Anti-tack agents 70Azithromycin dry syrup 132Basic cream for different active ingredients 139Benzylpenicillin + streptomycin injectable suspension 128Binder for direct compression 16 – 19Binder for dry granulation (roller compaction) 14 – 15Binder for melt extrusion 20 – 21Binder for wet granulation 9 – 13Bioadhesion 88, 151 – 152Bioavailability enhancement 30 – 33, 112, 144, 146Carbamazepine oral suspension 129Carbamazepine sustained-release tablets 77Closantel veterinary injectable solution 116Coevaporation 31Compaction see roller compactionComplex formation 30 – 32, 100, 144 – 145Coprecipitation 30Cremophor® A grades as emulsifiers 139Cremophor® EL as solubilizer 97 – 98, 103Cremophor® ELP 103Cremophor® RH 40 as dissolution/bioavailability enhancer 33Cremophor® RH 40 as solubilizer 92, 97 – 99, 111, 142 – 143, 147Cremophor® RH 40 as suspension stabilizer 125, 130Crystallization Inhibition in suspensions 129 – 131

160

Diclofenac gel-cream 149Diclofenac oral solution 100Diclofenac sustained-release tablets 72Direct compression agents 34 – 39Disintegrant for buccal tablets 28 – 29Disintegrant for normal tablets 22 – 25Dissolution enhancers 30 – 33Dry granulation (roller compaction) 14 – 15Emulsification 139Enteric coating of granules or pellets 66 – 67Enteric film-coating formulation 59, 65, 67Enteric film-coating of tablets 63 – 66Estradiol tablets (melt extrusion) 20 – 21Famotidine fast-disintegrating tablets 39Fast-disintegrating buccal tablets 28 – 29, 37 – 39Film-coating of pellets (sustained-release) 68 – 70Film-coating of tablets (instant-release) 40 – 56Film-coating of tablets (sustained-release) 81 – 85Film-coating of tablets and crystals (enteric) 63 – 67Fluidized bed granulation 9, 75 – 76Free macrogol in solubilizers 97Gel forming 140 – 141, 148Gemfibrozil tablets 10Ibuprofen gel 141Ibuprofen oral suspension 120 –121Instant-release film-coating formulation 42Instant-release film-coating of tablets and capsules 40 – 54Kollicoat® EMM 30D for sustained-release matrix tablets 78 – 79Kollicoat® EMM 30D for sustained-release pellets 69 – 70Kollicoat® EMM 30D in transdermal systems 151 – 152Kollicoat® IR as binder for wet granulation 13, 28Kollicoat® IR for instant-release film-coating 40 – 44Kollicoat® IR in aerosols 113Kollicoat® IR White 40, 45 – 48Kollicoat® MAE grades for enteric film-coating 59, 63 – 67Kollicoat® Protect as film former 40, 48 – 51Kollicoat® SR 30D for sustained-release coated tablets 81 – 85Kollicoat® SR 30D for sustained-release matrix tablets 74 – 77, 79 – 81Kollicoat® SR 30D for sustained-release pellets 68 – 69Kollicoat® SR 30D for taste masking 57Kollidon® 12 PF and Kollidon® 17 PF as suspension stabilizers 128Kollidon® 12 PF as solubilizer 114Kollidon® 17 PF as solubilizer 114 – 116Kollidon® 30 and Kollidon® 25 as enzym stabilizer 155Kollidon® 30 and Kollidon® 90F as suspension stabilizers 59, 83, 120, 122 – 123, 126 – 127, 129Kollidon® 30, Kollidon® 25 and Kollidon® 90F as binder 9 – 15, 20 – 21Kollidon® 30 as bioavailability enhancer 30Kollidon® 30 and Kollidon® 25 as solubilizer 100Kollidon® 30 for taste masking 108Kollidon® 90 F as thickener 105Kollidon® CL as disintegrant 22 – 23

161

Kollidon® CL grades as dissolution/bioavailability enhancers 31 – 32Kollidon® CL-F as disintegrant 22, 26, 27Kollidon® CL-M as bioavailability enhancer 30 – 32Kollidon® CL-M as stabilizer of active ingredients 134 – 135Kollidon® CL-M as suspension stabilizer 119 – 123, 126, 127Kollidon® CL-M for taste masking 132Kollidon® CL-SF as disintegrant 22, 26 – 29Kollidon® SR as matrix in sustained-release tablets 71 – 73Kollidon® VA 64 as binder 9 – 12, 14 – 21Kollidon® VA 64 as film former in aerosols 113Kollidon® VA 64 as bioadhesive 88, 151Kollidon® VA 64 Fine as dry binder 16 – 21Kollidon® VA 64 for film-coating 52 – 56Loperamide fast-disintegrating tablets 28Ludiflash® for fast-disintegrating tablets 34, 37 – 39Ludipress® 15, 24, 25, 34, 35Ludipress® LCE 34, 36 – 37Lutrol® E 400 as plasticizer 87Lutrol® E grades as solvents 91, 107, 147Lutrol® F 127 as thickener and gel former 106, 140 – 141, 148 – 149Lutrol® F 68 for taste masking 133Lutrol® F grades as dissolution enhancers 32 – 33, 146Lutrol® F grades as solubilizer 101, 104, 143Lutrol® F grades as suspension stabilizer 124Lµtrol® micro 127 32 – 33Lµtrol® micro 68 32 – 33Lyophylization 114Magaltrate oral suspension 127Melt extrusion 20 – 21Metronidazole vaginal gel 148Metroprolol sustained-release coated tablets 83 – 85Miconazole mouth gel 142Morphine sulphate mucoadhesive tablets 88Mucoadhesion 88Multivitamin instant granules 134Multivitamin syrup 99Naproxen tablets 10Oxytetracyclin veterinary injectable 102Oxytetracycline sustained-release injectable (vet.) 115Pigment 58 – 59, 94Piroxicam tablets 24Plastizicer 64, 86 – 87Povidone-Iodine thermo-gelling solution 106Povidone-Iodine wound spray 113Process-Parameter charts of Kollicoat® IR grades 43 – 44, 49 – 50Propranolol sustained-release tablets 75 – 76Propylene glycol as plasticizer 59, 65, 67, 86Propylene glycol as solvent or crystallization inhibitor 91, 107, 116, 129, 148 – 149Propylene glycol as stabilizer of active ingredients 109 – 111Protective film-coating formulation 51Protective film-coating of tablets and capsules 40, 48 – 51

162

Redispersibility of suspensions 126 – 128Roller compaction 14 – 15Sedimentation inhibition 119 – 125, 128Sicovit® iron oxides 58 – 59, 65, 94Simethicone instant granules 130Solubilization in oral dosage forms 97 – 101Solubilization in parenteral dosage forms 102 – 104Solubilization in topical dosage forms 97 – 101Soluphor® P 115Solutol® HS 15 as solubilizer 103 – 104Solutol® HS 15 as suspension stabilizer 128Solvent granulation 12Stabilization of active ingredients 93, 109 – 111, 134 – 135Stabilization of enzyms 155Stabilization of oral suspensions 119 – 125Stabilization of parenteral suspensions 128Subcoating of tablets 54 – 55Sugar coating formulation 54Sugar coating of tablets 53 – 54Sugar film-coating formulation of tablets 53Sustained release in injectables 115Sustained release in matrix tablets 71 – 81Sustained release in pellets 68 – 70Sustained-release film-coating of tablets 81 – 85Taste masking by coating of crystals 57Taste masking by tablet coating 55 – 56Taste masking in liquids 108, 132 – 133Theophylline sustained-release tablets 73, 78 – 79Thickening 105 – 106Toxicity reduction 116Transdermal system 151 – 152Tretinoin + dexpanthenol gel 147Trituration 30 – 32Verapamil speronized pellets (instant-release) 12Vitamin A + D3 + E aqueous injectable emulsion (vet.) 104Vitamin A + E drops 111Vitamin A suppositories 143Vitamin B complex injectable solution 109Vitamin B12 coloured tablets 58Vitamin C chewable tablets 19Vitamin C tablets 14Vitamin K1 injectable solution 103Wet granulation 9 – 13

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