LIQUID AND SEMISOLID-FILLED CAPSULES : A DOSAGE FORM TO SOLVE SOME PHARMACEUTICAL PROBLEMS

Abstract

In the development of certain pharmaceutical dosage forms, some problems may occur including chemical and physical instability, poor dissolution and low bioavailability of drugs as well as some processmg difficulties. These latter difficulties may arise from the improper characteristics of the active ingredients or the need for complicated technology as that associated with the production of sustained release microcapsules.

The formulation of drugs as liquid or semisolid filled gelatin capsules may solve many of above problems since such dosage fonn can modify the drug release using simple technique, and also can keep the drug well protected from the external environment. The formulations are simple and require a limited number of excipients to impart the desired properties to the active ingredients. Therefore, the number of unit operation is reduced to a minimum, rendering the process simpler and relatively more economic.

The introductory part of the thesis includes a literature survey of the capsule shell composition and possible shell-fill interactions with some filling materials. Various formulation approaches of liquid or semisolid filling materials of both hard and soft gelatin capsules were discussed. Finally, the contributions of this formulation technology to vanous areas of phannaceutical production including, pharrnaceutical processing, dosa