Abstract

Hot Melt Extrusion-An Emerging Drug Delivery Technology of 21st Century

Author(s): Rashid Mahmood

Hot Melt Extrusion (HME) is an emerging technology that is gaining high importance in the pharmaceutical industry as a novel technique for the preparation of various dosage forms and drug delivery systems, for example, granules and sustained-release tablets. It is a fast-growing technology platform that is utilized to solve difficult formulation challenges, primarily in the area of solubilization. Due to fast processing, high degree of automation, absence of solvents, simple and continuous operation, and ability to process poorly compactable material into tablet form are some of the main advantages offered over conventional processing by this emerging technique. Applications of HME in the pharmaceutical industry continue to grow and the recent success of this technique has made it a useful tool of consideration as a drug delivery solution.