Design of porous orally disintegrating tablets by direct compression and sublimation

JUAN CANDELA; GALLO LOREANA; NOELIA GONZÁLEZ VIDAL

Congreso; 6ta Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacéuticas (RICiFa 2020+1); 2021

Orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) offer many advantages over conventional tablets, specially for pediatric population. Direct compression is a straightforward method of producing ODTs. However, the relatively low porosity of the tablets prolongs the disintegration time. In this sense, the aim of this work was to design ODTs by direct compression including a sublimating agent, in order to obtain highly porous tablets. Tablets consisting of a model drug (ivermectin), sublimating agent (camphor), diluent, superdisintegrant, lubricant, glidant and a sweeting agent were produced in an excentric tablet press. Tablets were kept at 60 °C for 72 h in an oven, to ensure complete sublimation, verified by weight loss. Tablet hardness, friability and disintegration time were evaluated, and compared with control tablets (without camphor). Results showed that porous tablets disintegrated approximately 42% faster than control samples. Hardness results were 2.8 Kp and 5.1 Kp for porous and control tablets, respectively. However, friability for porous tablets (1.89%) exceeded the acceptance criteria, but control tablets did not (0.42%). In conclusion, these preliminary results are very promising, since ODTs with satisfactory disintegration times were produced. Futher investigations should be carried out in order to improve friability and optimize the formulations.