Expanding the application of the tablet processing workstation to support the sample preparation of oral suspensions.

Sample preparation is the most time-consuming part of the analytical method for powder for oral suspension (POS) assay, purity, and preservative analysis, as this involves multiple dilution and filtration steps. The Tablet Processing Workstation (TPW) was used to automate the sample preparation of a POS formulation. Although the TPW is typically used to automate the preparation of solid oral dosage forms and powders, it contains all of the necessary components to perform POS sample preparation. The TPW exhibited acceptable repeatability in testing 3 lots using 10 replicate preparations per lot. Acceptable linearity of the drug and preservative in the presence of excipients was demonstrated over the range corresponding to 50-150% of intent. Accuracy showed suitable recoveries for all points evaluated. TPW results were shown to correlate to results obtained with the manual method. The TPW method was used to prepare samples in support of manufacturing scale-up efforts. With the efficiencies gained using the TPW, it was possible to analyze a large number of samples generated during process development activities for the POS formulation with minimal human intervention. The extensive data enabled trending of the manufacturing development runs and helped to identify optimization strategies for the process.

Leveraging elevated temperature and particle size reduction to extract API from various tablet formulations.

Several sample preparation techniques were evaluated for extracting active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) from immediate release (IR) and controlled release (CR) tablet formulations. These techniques utilized either elevated temperature [e.g., accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and microwave assisted extraction (MAE)] or particle size reduction [e.g., ball mill and homogenizer/Tablet Processing Workstation II (TPWII)]. Results were compared for equivalence to those obtained with the existing standard method for each formulation. For the CR formulations, sample preparation times were significantly reduced when using these techniques compared to the standard method. Advantages and limitations associated with each technique are discussed.