Fast Dissolving Tablets – Future Aspects

Drug delivery system is an efficient tool for enhancing market, extending product life cycles and creating opportunities. Drug delivery system (DDS) makes a significant contribution to global pharmaceutical sales through market segmentation, and is moving rapidly[1]. Despite of tremendous innovations in drug delivery, the oral route remains the preferred route for administration of therapeutic agents because of accurate dosage, low cost therapy, self medication, non invasive method and ease of administration leading to high level of patient compliance[2]. Difficulty in swallowing (Dysphasia) is common among all age groups, especially in elderly, and is also seen in swallowing of conventional tablets and capsules. One study showed that 26% out of 1576 patients experienced difficulty in swallowing tablets Due to their large size, followed by their surface, shape and taste[3]. In case of liquid dosage forms there is an issue of drug stability as compared to solid dosage forms such as tablets. Also storage and transportation difficulties are faced in case of liquid dosage forms. Nowadays for the above mentioned reasons tablets that disintegrate or dissolve rapidly in oral cavity have attracted a lot of attention of the researchers. The solid dosage forms that disintegrates or dissolves rapidly in the oral cavity, resulting in solution or suspension without the need of administration of water is known as oral fast dispersing/ dissolving tablets (FDT‟s) or mouth dissolving tablets (MDT) or fast melt tablet (FMTs). Drug dissolution and absorption as well as onset of clinical effect and drug bioavailability may be significantly greater than those observed from conventional dosage forms. The chains of events that occur following administration of a tablet dosage form until its absorption into systemic circulation are depicted in figure 1[4].