This website requires Adobe Flash Player.
Please download the latest Flash Plugin.
You are here
Platform: Taste-Masking & Orally Disintegrating Tablets (ODTs)
The Aptalis Pharmaceutical Technologies portfolio of proprietary taste-masking technologies has been validated in commercialized products around the world. These technologies can also be used in combination with our customized drug release technologies to develop unique product formulations.
Taste-Masking: Key to Developing Patient-Friendly Products
Taste is an important characteristic of oral administration forms, and patients frequently rate taste as a tablet’s most important attribute.1
More than 150 aversive tasting drugs exist in the U.S. alone.2 Unpleasant tasting medicines can contribute to patient non-adherence, in addition to factors such as inconvenience or difficulty in administration.
In total, some 50% of patients do not take their medications as prescribed.3 This results in $30 billion of lost revenue annually for the pharmaceutical industry due to prescriptions not filled or not re-filled by patients.4
Taste preferences vary with age and gender, and are also influenced by regional and cultural differences. Certain patient segments are more sensitive to taste, such as the elderly and pediatric populations. Difficulties in drug administration can also occur in these populations, negatively impacting adherence.
In order to create easy-to-swallow, patient-friendly dosage forms, formulation scientists are required to mask poorly-tasting drugs. Incorporating taste-masking technologies during the product development stage can result in an extensive and successful product lifecycle.
Technical Challenges in Taste-Masking
At Aptalis Pharmaceutical Technologies, our teams of scientists understand the complex relationship between the taste of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and its physiochemical properties.
Factors that are taken into consideration during the taste-masking formulation process include:
|
Our formulation experts balance these factors against the product’s desired organoleptic (sensory) properties such as taste, mouth-feel, size and weight of the pill in order to create a ‘patient-friendly’ product for our partners to bring to market.
Taste-Masking Technologies
Our proprietary taste-masking technologies can be used in combination or alone to develop products with pleasant taste, excellent mouth-feel, custom release profiles, and multiple administration options.
Our taste-masking technologies have been commercialized and are the subject of multiple United States and International granted and pending patents.
Learn more about our taste-masking technologies:
- Thorens et al. BMC Psychiatry. 2008, 8:55. Doi: 10.1186/1471-244x-8-55
- www.rpsgb.org/emailpdfs/scot_siegel.pdf
- Haynes RB, et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD000011. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000011.pub3
- Datamonitor Patient Compliance Survey. 2004