Enhancing flowability of fine cohesive active pharmaceutical ingredients

Abstract

Objective

The effectiveness of pharmaceutical excipients and hydrophobic nano-silica as flow aid/regulator was studied and two active pharmaceutical ingredients, i.e. paracetamol and ibuprofen were used to gauge the effectiveness. Avicel PH-101 and Avicel PH-102 were chosen as pharmaceutical excipients and Aerosil R972 Pharma was used as hydrophobic nano-silica, the API’s and the excipients were micro-sized.

Significance

Fine powders lead to many operational difficulties in the pharmaceutical industry which need to be alleviated. The reliability and repeatability of the Powder Flow Tester need to be established.

Methods

Flow function, wall friction, and bulk density tests to gauge the said effect were conducted on Brookfield Powder Flow Tester. The samples for testing were prepared by blending (rigorous mixing) to ascertain the capability of inexpensive mixing in comparison to expensive blenders and machines.

Results

The study undertook shows that blending (rigorous mixing) was sufficient in improving the flow of active pharmaceutical ingredient powders. Blending with excipients Avicel PH-101 and Avicel PH-102 improved the flow substantially but the maximum improvement was seen in the nano blended samples.

Conclusions

The study conducted underlined the efficacy of the blending process by showing significant improvement in flow properties. The Powder Flow Tester confirmed the anticipated results of the powder blends indicative of its reliability. Moreover, repeatable results were obtained which established the repeatability of the instrument.

Keywords:

• Powder Flow Tester
• flow function
• fine cohesive powders
• surface area coverage
• blending percentage

Acknowledgments

The authors are deeply grateful to Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, India for providing funds to purchase the API’s and glidants used in this study and for providing a conducive environment to carry out the research work.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The funds used to purchase the API’s and glidants used in this study were provided by Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, India.