Contribution of hot-melt extrusion technology to advance drug delivery in the 21st century

摘要

Introduction: Hot-melt extrusion (HME) technology is applied successfully in the plastic, rubber and food industry. HME has also emerged as an important technology for drug delivery applications in pharmaceutical research and manufacturing because of its process automation and low-cost scale-up properties, which reduce labor costs and capital investment. There are a number of commercial FDA-approved HME-derived products, signifying the commercial feasibility of this novel technique in drug delivery applications. HME is a highly efficient, solvent-free continuous processing technique for the development of solid dispersions; thus, research efforts to develop sustained, modified and targeted drug delivery systems to improve the solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are of interest.