Oral drug delivery for the 21st century

When I was a growing up, the 21st century was advertised as being a cool, futuristic place with such things as hotels in space and flying cars.

I’m pretty happy with my cell phone, which has more computing power than NASA used to land a man on the moon, but where is my flying car? OK, if I can’t have a flying car, how about a flying tablet?

LTS Lohmann’s pioneering work with oral thin films led to the introduction of Listerine PocketPaks. I like to think of these films as tiny translucent rectangles that look like mini flying carpets for APIs. These strips are ready to take oral drug delivery to the next stage, both for the pharmaceuticals developer and for the consumer/patient.

Oral thin films provide numerous advantages for the developer. Perhaps the most exciting is the ability of oral thin films to overcome solubility problems. Such issues prevent many potent drugs from reaching the market or hinder the performance of products which could prove to be much more effective and safer for patients. A well-formulated oral strip is able to increase bioavailability from often non-measurable levels in tablets to over 80%. The second major advantage of properly formulated oral thin films is the capability to deliver compounds with good permeation via the oral or buccal mucosa. This avoids the GI tract, the first-pass through the liver and degradation of sensitive compounds before they have a chance to circulate and reach their target.

Lower doses
These two advantages often result in large increases in oral bioavailability of a drug. This allows lower doses to be administered with the same or better therapeutic effects. Lower doses often mean fewer or significantly reduced side effects. This can remove barriers to product approval and result in increased patient compliance. Lower doses translate into less API use and a significant decrease in costs. Better bioavailability can also result in higher blood concentrations than can be achieved via more traditional formulations, opening up new therapeutic categories. The delivery of drugs by oral strips can be modified from instant release to controlled release of the drug over 12 hours, allowing custom delivery and personalised medicine. Oral thin films are also one of the best ways for local delivery of the drug in the oral cavity. They have less food effects, faster onset and often result in new IP.

The last major advantage to the pharmaceutical producer is the robustness of the manufacturing process and product. This robust process ensures a reliable product supply, and a robust product means less loss due to damage from manufacturing through to consumer/ patient use. Oral thin films also provide unique advantages to the consumer/patient. They offer a new, attractive design for safer, pain-free oral delivery of drugs. Patients prefer to take drugs orally and these films provide additional advantages not even dreamed of by other dosage forms. They are very discreet, allowing easy administration of medications and do not require liquids. They are ideal for patients who have difficulty swallowing, such as children or older people. They cannot be spat out, making them ideal for veterinary applications. This type of film can be designed with unique low-volume packaging, making it an innovative and highly mobile product. Oral thin films bring together so many of the aspects preferred by consumers and patients, which result in better, safer products and increased patient compliance; they are bringing oral drug delivery into the 21st century. …Someone else has to work on my flying car.

Company profile

LTS Lohmann Therapie-Systeme

For further information, visit: www.ltslohmann.de