Abstract

Background: Developing a new excipient and obtaining its market approval is an expensive, time-consuming and complex process. Compared to that, the co-processing of already approved excipients has emerged as a more attractive option for bringing better characteristic excipients to the market. The application of the Design of Experiments (DoE) approach for developing co-processed excipient can make the entire process cost-effective and rapid.

Objective: The aim of the present investigation was to demonstrate the applicability of the DoE approach, especially 32 full factorial design, to develop a multi-functional co-processed excipient for the direct compression of model drug - cefixime trihydrate using spray drying technique.

Methods: The preliminary studies proved the significant effect of atomization pressure (X₁) and polymer ratio (microcrystalline cellulose: mannitol - X₂) on critical product characteristics, so they were selected as independent variables. The angle of repose, Carr’s index, Hausner’s ratio, tensile strength and Kuno’s constant were selected as response variables.

Result: The statistical analysis proved a significant effect of both independent variables on all response variables with a significant p-value < 0.05. The desirability function available in Design Expert 11® software was used to prepare and select the optimized batch. The prepared co-processed excipient had better compressibility than individual excipients and their physical mixture and was able to accommodate more than 40 percent drug without compromising the flow property and compressibility.

Conclusion: The present investigation successfully proved the applicability of 3² full factorial design as an effective tool for optimizing the spray drying process to prepare a multi-functional co-processed excipient.

Keywords: Co-processing, spray drying, design of experiment, desirability function, Heckel's equation, Kawakita's equation, optimization.

Graphical Abstract