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Continuous downstream processing of milled electrospun fibers to tablets monitored by near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy

By Szabo, E; Zahonyi, PGyurkes, M; Nagy, B; Galata, DL; Madarasz, L; Hirsch, E; Farkas, A; Andersen, SK; Vigh, T; Verreck, G; Csontos, I; Marosi, G; Nagy, ZK

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Abstract

Electrospinning is a technology for manufacture of nano- and micro-sized fibers, which can enhance the dissolution properties of poorly water-soluble drugs. Tableting of electrospun fibers have been demonstrated in several studies, however, continuous manufacturing of tablets have not been realized yet. This Research Article presents the first integrated continuous processing of milled drug-loaded electrospun materials to tablet form supplemented by process analytical tools for monitoring the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content. Electrospun fibers of an amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) of itraconazole and poly(vinylpyrrolidone-co-vinyl acetate) were produced using high speed electrospinning and afterwards milled. The milled fibers with an average fiber diameter of 1.6 +/- 0.9 mu m were continuously fed with a vibratory feeder into a twin-screw blender, which was integrated with a tableting machine to prepare tablets with similar to 10 kN compression force. The blend of fibers and excipients leaving the continuous blender was characterized with a bulk density of 0.43 g/cm(3) and proved to be suitable for direct tablet compression. The ASD content, and thus the API content was determined in-line before tableting and at-line after tableting using near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The prepared tablets fulfilled the USP < 905 > content uniformity requirement based on the API content of ten randomly selected tablets. This work highlights that combining the advantages of electrospinning (e.g. less solvent, fast and gentle drying, low energy consumption, and amorphous products with high specific surface area) and the continuous technologies opens a new and effective way in the field of manufacturing of the poorly water-soluble APIs.

Journal

European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Volume 164, 2021, 105907

DOI

10.1016/j.ejps.2021.105907

Type of publication

Peer-reviewed journal

Affiliations

  • Budapest University of Technology and Economics
  • Janssen R&D (Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson)

Article Classification

Research Article

Classification Areas

  • API
  • PAT
  • Oral Dosis

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