ABSTRACT
There is no single-component excipient fulfills all the requisite performance to allow an active pharmaceutical ingredient to be formulated into a specific dosage form. Co-processed excipient has received much more attention in the formulation development of various dosage forms, specially for tablet preparation by direct compression method. The objective of this review is to discuss the emergence of co-processed excipients as a current and future trend of excipient technology in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Co-processing is a novel concept of combining two or more excipients that possess specific advantages that cannot be achieved using a physical admixture of the same combination of excipients. This review article discusses the advantages of co-processing, the need of co-processed excipient, general steps in developing co-processed excipient, limitation of co-processed excipient, technologies used in developing co-processing excipients, co-processed excipients in the literature, marketed products and future trends. With advantages offered by the upcoming newer combination of excipients and newer methods of co-processing, co-processed excipients are for sure going to gain attraction both from academia and pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, it opens the opportunity for development and use of single multifunctional excipient rather than multiple excipients in the formulation.