Abstract

CO-PROCESSED EXCIPIENTS: A REVIEW

Saudagar R. B.* and Pangavhane K. K.

Abstract

Excipients play an important role in formulating a dosage form. These are the inactive ingredients which along with Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients make up the dosage forms. In recent years drug formulation scientists have recognized that single-component excipients do not always provide the required performance to allow certain active pharmaceutical ingredients to be formulated or manufactured adequately. In addition to this, the cost involved in the development of new chemical excipients with improved properties is quite high. In response to these deficiencies, drug formulation scientists have relied on increasing numbers of combination excipients introduced by excipient manufacturers into the commercial market. The combinations of excipients are an alternative for better excipient functionality. Co-processing of excipients could lead to the formation of excipients with superior properties compared to simple physical mixtures of their components. The main aim of co-processing is to obtain a product with an added value related to the ratio of its functionality /price.

Keywords: Excipients, combination of excipients, Co-processing, functionality, synergistic outcome.