Innovation in starter pellets – PharSQ® Spheres CM unique calcium-phosphate based starter pellets

Drug layering on starter pellets is a standard technology to achieve multiparticulate dosage forms. The most widely used are still sugar spheres / non-pareils but also neutral pellets made of microcrystalline cellulose such as Cellets are applied. Although not a lot of new starter pellets have come to the market there is always some movement for specific needs such as tartaric acid pellets as functional starter pellets to enhance the solubility of weakly basic drugs in extended release formulations by pH modification.

PharSQ® Spheres CM are unique starter pellets based on calcium-phosphate combining interesting characteristics for a starter pellets such as:

High density
High compatibility
Low moisture content
High mechanical strength
Highly spherical
Poorly soluble in water
Neutral pH

Interested to hear more:

Novel starter pellets based on dibasic calcium phosphate anhydrous: properties and application
Daniel Zakowiecki, Marek Lachmann, Vivienne Schaum and Tobias Hess of Chemische Fabrik BUDENHEIM give an insight on various types of starter pellets which are frequently used for the production of MDDS

Multiparticulate Drug Delivery Systems (MDDS) also called Multiple Unit Dosage Forms (MUDF) are modern pharmaceutical drug products which have been gaining more and more popularity in recent years. These multiple unit dosage forms are created by many independent subunits (microparticles), each of which is an autonomous reservoir of a drug and releases the drug in a planned manner, independently of the other subunits. In the case of solid oral dosage forms, multiparticulates such as granules, minitablets or pellets are usually enclosed in hard capsules or compressed into tablets which increases the comfort of taking medicines by patients.

In comparison to single unit doses such as conventional tablets and capsules, MUDF offer many benefits to pharmaceutical scientists in order to best fulfil actual patient requirements. For example, they give new possibilities of achieving target drug delivery or controlling a drug release characteristic which consequently impact on bioavailability of medicinal products. Furthermore, modified-release multiparticulate formulations can be divided into smaller parts and then taken with food or liquid without altering the release characteristics of a drug substance. This functionality is particularly beneficial in the case of pediatric or geriatric patients having difficulty in swallowing. An interesting solution presents commercially available MDDS which simultaneously contains microparticulates having different drug release patterns, e.g. immediate- and extended-release. In the case of pain treatment, such solution brings the patient a quick relief of pain shortly after taking the preparation and then a long-lasting analgesic effect. The need to take the drug less often increases patient compliance and increases the safety of pharmacotherapy. The issue of drug safety is particularly relevant for extended-release formulations which contain usually very high doses of a drug. Continue reading the Express Pharma article here

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