Effect of the surface free energy of materials on the lamination tendency of bilayer tablets.

Dosage forms with fixed dose combinations of drugs is a frequent and advantageous mode of administration, but their production involves a number of technological problems. Numerous interactions in a homogeneous vehicle may be avoided through the use of layered tablets. The mechanical properties of these dosage forms depend on numerous process parameters and material characteristics. The aim of the present study was a detailed investigation of the relationships between the surface characteristics and deformation properties of tableting materials and the tendency of bilayer tablets to undergo lamination. Bilayer tablets were compressed from unlubricated materials with different plastic-elastic properties and surface free energies according to a mixed 2 and 3-level half-replicated factorial design. The results revealed that the surface characteristics play the main role in the lamination of layered tablets and the effect of the plastic-elastic behavior cannot be interpreted without a knowledge of these properties.

Application of physicochemical properties and process parameters in the development of a neural network model for prediction of tablet characteristics.

The importance of in silico modeling in the pharmaceutical industry is continuously increasing. The aim of the present study was the development of a neural network model for prediction of the postcompressional properties of scored tablets based on the application of existing data sets from our previous studies. Some important process parameters and physicochemical characteristics of the powder mixtures were used as training factors to achieve the best applicability in a wide range of possible compositions. The results demonstrated that, after some pre-processing of the factors, an appropriate prediction performance could be achieved. However, because of the poor extrapolation capacity, broadening of the training data range appears necessary.