Formulation and Development of Gum-based Oral drug delivery system of antiemetic drug

To improve patient adherence and provide a timely start to therapy, meclizine hydrochloride (MH) medicated chewing gums (MCG) were developed using the direct compression and melting approach. Five distinct meclizine hydrochloride therapeutic chewing gum formulations were developed, each with varying amounts of polymer and calcium carbonate (texturizer).

Formulation and development of medicated chewing gum of meclizine hydrochloride and optimization of the formulation by screening of different excipients.

To make medicated chewing gums that contained meclizine hydrochloride, excipients with different amounts of sweeteners, flavourings, fillers, softening agents, and polymers were screened one variable at a time. Scanning electron microscopy, buccal absorption test, drug content, in vitro drug release, size, shape, thickness, taste, and texture were assessed using appropriate statistical analyses.

The medicated chewing gum formulation F2 had the best compression characteristics and an 96.10±0.476% in vitro drug release profile using 380 mg of gum base and 60 mg of calcium carbonate, respectively. The improved formulation displayed favorable surface characteristics, and it was determined that the peak load needed for drug release was manageable. Formulation F2 had the highest percentage of drug content (96.9±0.793%) of all the formulations. The enhanced medicated chewing gum F2's drug-polymer compatibility has been adequately shown by FTIR analysis. In order to find any significant interactions between the two components, the investigation of drug-excipient compatibility employed differential scanning calorimetry. The thermogram of the 1:1 physical mixture, which displayed identical peaks for each component, demonstrated that there were no noticeable interactions between the drug and excipients. The buccal absorption test showed that when meclizine hydrochloride was made accessible at pH 6.8 to the buccal mucosa, 88.2% of it was absorbed buccally in 15 minutes. For this reason, medicated chewing gum F2 was regarded as the best batch.

Compared to mouth-dissolving and traditional tablet forms, the proposed medicinal chewing gum formulation may be a preferable option. It can be a strategy to improve patient compliance and bioavailability.