Powder to the people
Pharmaceutical companies are often wary of drug delivery via medicated chewing gum
due to the complex manufacturing processes involved. But, as Cafosa’s Roser Amposta
explains to World Pharmaceutical Frontiers, the organisation’s gum product range offers
an innovative way to produce medicated chewing gum simply and cost-effectively.
Cafosa’s position as a leading gum base supplier
is growing with one in two chewing gum
manufacturers opting for its gum bases. With wideranging
experience in the international gum sector, the
Barcelona-based company, which is part of the Mars/Wrigley
group, offers gum bases and compressible powder gum suitable
for confectionery, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications.
As the pharmaceuticals industry seeks out increasingly
innovative solutions, Cafosa has the scope to expand
further into the sector, something technical director
Roser Amposta feels is a realistic goal.
Healthy gum
Cafosa’s recently launched product, Health in Gum, consists
of a range of compressible powder gums, suitable for
pharmaceutical applications. The speed of drug delivery from
these products is impressive. Health in Gum contains a mix of
ingredients to which an active ingredient can be added.
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"We see a strong potential for
medicated chewing gum as a valid
alternative to standard chewable
or orally disintegrated tablets." |
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“Medicated chewing gum offers a fast offset of action due
to the partial oral absorption of the drug in the mouth,” says
Amposta, adding that medicated chewing gum also reduces
exposure to the gastrointestinal side-effects caused by APIs.
However, she says that chewing gum reinforces patient
compliance because he or she becomes directly involved in
the treatment through the action of chewing.
While the release rate depends on the properties of each
drug, Amposta emphasises that water-soluble drugs have
optimal release profiles.
“Poorly soluble drugs have slower or partial release due to
their natural tendency of bonding to the gum,” she explains.
Fast and effective
Although there are several established medicated products
such as nicotine, antihistamine and motion sickness gums, the
scope for this drug-delivery method is much wider than the
options currently on the market.
“Fast-acting medicines that are intended as a response
to acute unpleasant sensations such as headaches, coughs
and colds, as well as drugs for anxiety, allergy and digestive
discomfort, are very suitable for delivery via chewing gum,”
says Amposta. “We see a strong potential for medicated
chewing gum as a valid alternative to standard chewable
or orally disintegrating tablets.”
In the past pharmaceutical companies have often avoided
medicated chewing gum because of the complex
manufacturing processes involved.
“Traditional chewing gum manufacturing requires specific
equipment and facilities involving hot-melt processes that are
not common in the industry,” Amposta says. “But with Health
in Gum, all that is required for production is a standard solid
powder blender and direct compression in a dry and roomtemperature
process – the standard conditions that are used
for processing tablets.”
This clearly results in significant cost savings: rather than
having to invest in technology not often used in the industry,
Cafosa offers pharmaceutical organisations a convenient,
finished dosage form to produce and market.
Popular appeal
As the industry begins to appreciate the feasibility of medicated
chewing gum manufacturing, Cafosa’s products will become
ever more popular. Amposta notes that pharmaceutical
organisations are amenable to the firm’s proposals.
“Companies are concerned about offering innovative
products that differentiate them from their competitors
and provide added value to consumers,” she says.
“Gum is an excellent option.”
With such a wide scope for application, Amposta is
convinced that the popularity of medicated gum will increase.
“There will be more products in the near future,” she says.
“In the nutraceutical field we have a long list of available
products, with applications covering weight management,
oral care, probiotics and vitamins.”
As an established and trusted name in the chewing gum
market, the launch of Cafosa’s Health in Gum is likely
to have a significant impact on the pharmaceuticals
sector. With companies looking for increasingly innovative
products and the ‘sticky situation’ of costly manufacturing
processes successfully bypassed, there is little doubt that
medicated chewing gum will hold a prominent place
in the future of drug delivery.
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