Mouth Dissolving Films: An Emerging Platform for Anti-Hypertensive Drugs

Hypertension is an urgent medical condition that needs a proper management plan. Since the majority of anti-hypertensive medications undergo first-pass metabolism, their oral bioavailability is typically 20–50%. Over time several researchers have formulated anti-hypertensive drug(s) loaded mouth-dissolving films (MDFs) to treat hypertension with better patient compliance. Pediatric and geriatric patients suffering from chronic diseases have difficulty in swallowing conventional oral solid medications and for the general population also MDFs have various advantages in comparison to other conventional formulations. The MDF’s are solid dosage forms that dissolves or disintegrates in a fraction of seconds when placed in mouth cavity without the requirement of chewing or water. The drugs can be absorbed immediately and reach into systemic circulation without experiencing first-pass hepatic metabolism. The present review provides an account of MDFs for anti-hypertensive drugs, various formulation methods and their evaluation.