A Scale-Up, Phenomenological Model Incorporating the Effect of Both Feed Frame Lubrication and Tumble Blending-Driven Lubrication on Tablet Mechanical Strength.

In tablet manufacturing, mixing operations in tumble blending (TB) and in the feed frame (FF) of the rotary press can both increase lubricity, negatively influencing the tablet mechanical strength. While the TB-driven lubrication was systematically studied, no reliable bench-scale methods exist for the effect of FF lubrication. Because TB and FF mixing are usually two successive operations in tablet manufacturing, we developed a phenomenological model to incorporate the impact of TB-driven lubrication and the FF lubrication on the tablet tensile strength (TS). We noted that exponential decay functions can describe the evolution of the tablet TS as the function of the extent of TB, as well as the residence time in FF. Hence, the overall lubrication sensitivity can be modeled by incorporating two distinct exponential decay functions. The model can be calibrated through bench-scale experiments. Using an investigational powder blend, we showed that this approach accurately predicted the tablet TS in a scale-up tablet compression study, thereby verifying its utility. This model can serve as a scale-up diagnostic and risk-assessment tool, with the ability to adjust the overall effect of lubrication by changing the TB scale and the FF residence time commensurate with the large-scale operations.

Theoretical and Experimental Evaluation of Flow Pattern of Pharmaceutical Powder Blends Discharged From Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs).

The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of funnel flow pattern for common pharmaceutical powder blends, upon discharging from modern intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) in drug product manufacturing. The estimation was built upon Jenike's original radial stress field theory. It was modified to account for the stress-dependence of wall friction angle commonly observed in pharmaceutical powders. A total of 260 flow pattern estimations, based on 20 real-life IBCs and 13 investigational powder blends, were made. The estimated results showed that the mass flow pattern is present in less than 5% of all cases. Funnel flow pattern is clearly prevalent among pharmaceutical powder blends. The prevalence of funnel flow stems from several factors: 1) relatively shallow hopper section shared by all IBCs, 2) the common transition-type geometry, leading to even shallower hopper inclination at the edge of the hopper section, and 3) relatively high wall friction angles resulting from low wall normal stresses. This conclusion was verified through at-scale experiments, by discharging multiple pharmaceutical powder blends from a representative IBC. In general, our study suggests that, unless the powder wall friction can be substantially reduced, pharmaceutical powders are likely to discharge under funnel flow from modern IBCs.

Flow Function of Pharmaceutical Powders at Low-Stress Conditions Can Be Inferred Using a Simple Flow-Through-Orifice Device.

Multiple pharmaceutical powder processes operate at stresses lower than utilized in typical lab-scale shear cell testing. To bridge this gap, we developed a method to determine intrinsic powder flow properties, in particular, flow function (FFc), under such low stresses. A simple, commercially-available flow-through-orifice device (Flodex™ apparatus) was selected. By developing a theoretical framework using Jenike's radial stress field analysis, the major principal stress and FFc of the tested powder can be derived from the otherwise empirical "Flodex" experiment. This method was applied to 10 distinct pharmaceutical powders. The major principal stresses associated with the test were estimated to be in the order of 100 Pa, significantly lower than what is achievable using shear cell-based methods. The resulting FFc values are generally consistent with the data extrapolated from ring shear testing. We showed that for pharmaceutical powders, FFc decreases with decreasing consolidation stress, but the values are always greater than 1. Therefore, the threshold for poor/acceptable flowability (by FFc) should be used with caution at low-stress conditions. Through this work, we showed that by integrating the radial stress field theory with a simple flow-through-orifice experiment, intrinsic powder flow properties under low stresses could be reliably determined.

Effect of Microenvironmental pH Modulation on the Dissolution Rate and Oral Absorption of the Salt of a Weak Acid - Case Study of GDC-0810.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of microenvironmental pH modulation on the in vitro dissolution rate and oral absorption of GDC-0810, an oral anti-cancer drug, in human. METHODS: The pH-solubility profile of GDC-0810 free acid and pHmax of its N-Methyl-D-glucamine (NMG) salt were determined. Precipitation studies were conducted for GDC-0810 NMG salt at different pH values. GDC-0810 200-mg dose NMG salt tablet formulations containing different levels of sodium bicarbonate as the pH modifier were tested for dissolution under the dual pH-dilution scheme. Three tablet formulations were evaluated in human as a part of a relative bioavailability study. A 200-mg dose of GDC-0810 was administered QD with low fat food. RESULTS: Intrinsic solubility of GDC-0810 free acid was found to be extremely low. The pHmax of the NMG salt suggested a strong tendency for form conversion to the free acid under GI conditions. In vitro dissolution profiles showed that the dissolution rate and extent of GDC-0810 increased with increasing the level of sodium bicarbonate in the formulation. The human PK data showed a similar trend for the geometric mean of Cmax and AUC0-t for formulations containing 5%, 10%, and 15% sodium bicarbonate, but the difference is not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Incorporation of a basic pH modifier, sodium bicarbonate, in GDC-0810 NMG salt tablet formulations enhanced in vitro dissolution rate of GDC-0810 via microenvironmental pH modulation. The human PK data showed no statistically significant difference in drug exposure from tablets containing 5%, 10%, and 15% sodium bicarbonate.

Assessment of granulation technologies for an API with poor physical properties.

Granulation technologies are widely used in solid oral dosage forms to improve the physical properties during manufacture. Wet, dry, and melt granulation techniques were assessed for Compound A, a BCS class II compound. Characterization techniques were used to quantify physical property limitations inherent for Compound A including hygroscopicity, low solubility and bulk density, and poor powder flowability. High shear aqueous wet granulation induced an undesirable water mediated phase transition of the solid form. A formulation and process for dry granulation by roller compaction was developed and scaled to 10 kg batch size. Roll force, and roll gap parameters were assessed. Porosity of compacted ribbons was analyzed by mercury intrusion porosimetry, and particle size distributions of milled ribbons by sieve analysis. A roll force of 15 kN/cm produced granules with higher density and improved flow properties compared to the pre-blend. Fines content (<75 µm) decreased from approximately 90% pre-granulation to 26% post-granulation. Cohesive properties of Compound A limited drug loading (API:excipient ratio) in roller compaction to 0.6:1 or less. Hot melt granulation by extrusion assessed with four polymers. A vast improvement in drug loading of 4:1 was achieved via melt processes using low molecular weight thermo-binders (glyceryl behenate and Polyethylene glycol 4000). Granules produced by melt processing contained less fines compared to wet and dry granulation. Both roller compaction and melt extrusion are viable granulation process alternatives for scale up to overcome the physical property limitations of Compound A.

Method for screening of solid dispersion formulations of low-solubility compounds--miniaturization and automation of solvent casting and dissolution testing.

An efficient method has been developed for screening solid dispersion formulations that are intended to enhance the dissolution of poorly soluble compounds. The method is based on miniaturization and automation of sample preparation by solvent casting, and dissolution testing, in a 96-well plate format, using less than 0.1mg of compound per well. To illustrate the method, six polymers and eight surfactants were screened, individually and in combination, for their ability to dissolve a compound with aqueous solubility of < 1 microg/ml in simulated intestinal fluid. Screening was performed at an excipient/compound ratio of 10:1, and a polymer/surfactant ratio of 3:1 for ternary formulations. Sixteen of the 48 ternary formulations dissolved the compound to a level > 100 microg/ml, i.e. at least a 100-fold increase over the aqueous solubility. A number of synergies were observed wherein the performance of a ternary formulation greatly exceeded that of either of the corresponding binary formulations. Thirteen 'hits' from screening were scaled up with melt methods, and approximately 2/3 of these showed comparable dissolution enhancement when tested at larger scale. Five of these were administered to rats, and the absolute oral bioavailability ranged from 10 to 23%, versus less than 1% for the unformulated compound.