Effervescent tablets are an interesting pharmaceutical dosage form, offering some unique advantages when compared with simple tablets. However, the manufacturing process involves some critical steps that need to be addressed carefully during formulation and factory design.
Introduction
Oral dosage forms are the most popular way of taking medication, despite having some disadvantages compared with other methods. One such disadvantage is the risk of slow absorption of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), which can be overcome by administering the drug in liquid form and, therefore, possibly allowing the use of a lower dosage. However, because many APIs only show a limited level of stability in liquid form, effervescent tablets, which are dissolved in water before administration, have been formulated as an alternative dosage form. Advantages of effervescent tablets compared with other oral dosage forms include
- an opportunity for formulators to improve the taste
- a more gentle action on a patient’s stomach
- marketing aspects (fizzy tablets may have more consumer appeal than traditional dosage forms).
The disadvantages of effervescent dosage forms are the need for larger tablets, a complex production process and, very often, the need for specialist packaging materials.
by Dr. Harald Stahl
Senior pharmaceutical technologist at
GEA Pharma Systems
Mauchener Strasse 14,
D-79379 Müllheim, Germany
Tel. +49 7631 701 614
Fax +49 7631 701 669
harald.stahl@geapharmasystems.com
This technical article was first publish in the journal Pharmaceutical Technology Europe in April 2003, if you like to read the complete article online please follow the link or download the attached file.
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