Investigating a New Approach to Film Casting for Enhanced Drug Content Uniformity in Polymeric Films

Abstract

Films prepared by conventional casting onto trays such as teflon-coated perspex trays (TCPTs) suffer from poor drug content uniformity. The aim of this study was to prepare a silicone-molded tray (SMT) with individual wells for film casting and to evaluate it in terms of enhancing drug content uniformity. Films were prepared by solvent evaporation or emulsification and cast onto TCPT and SMT. Preparation of films by the SMT method was superior in terms of meeting drug content uniformity requirements. As compared with the TCPT method, the SMT casting method also reduced the variability in mucoadhesivity, drug release, and film thickness. Reproducibility of the SMT method was demonstrated in terms of drug content, mucoadhesion, and drug release.

Keywords:

• films
• buccal
• drug uniformity
• mucoadhesion
• drug release

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the National Research Foundation of South Africa and University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) for financial support. Degussa Africa (Pty) Ltd is also acknowledged for their kind gift of the Eudragit® RS100 polymer. The authors also thank Mrs TM Esterhuizen from the Biostatistics Programme, College of Health Sciences, UKZN for assistance with the statistical analyses. Mr. V. K. Ramnarian is acknowledged for his assistance with photography in the study.