Pharmaceutical Pellets: A Versatile Carrier for Oral Controlled Delivery of Drugs

Abstract:

In pharmaceutical industries, pellets are multiparticulate dosage form which was formed by the agglomeration of fine powdered excipient and drugs together that leads to the formation of small free flowing spherical or semi spherical particles. This technique is called as pelletization process. Pellets are typically varied between 500-1500 μm in size for pharmaceutical applications. It is of great interest over other similar techniques due to its uniformity of dose, less susceptibility of dose dumping, less friability etc. With the advent of controlled release technology, drug loaded pellets have been widely investigated for its control release property in gastrointestinal tract. This review will provide an insight into previous studies on pelletization techniques, investigation of various pelletization techniques namely: layering, extrusion spheronization, cryopelletization, hot melt extrusion. It also gives a brief idea about the evaluation of pellets; parameters affecting pelletization, the different available marketed pellet formulation.

Key words: Cryopelletization, Extrusion, Fluidized bed Processor, Layering, Spheronization.