Pharmaceutical mini-tablets overview

Abstract

Oral dosage forms are considered as the most preferred dosage forms to various age groups of patients. However, conventional solid dosage forms (tablets and capsules) have been associated with some issues; such fluctuation in the plasma drug concentration and swallowing difficulty for some patients. This advocates the need for the continuous development and improvement of tablets and capsule to enhance therapeutic efficacy and increase patient acceptance. Mini tablets technology has been developed to minimize these problems. It aims to facilitate oral administration with minimal swallowing difficulty (especially in pediatrics and geriatrics) and deliver a therapeutic agent, selectively and effectively, to be targeted in a certain position in the body. The most benefit of this technique is the ease of production with facilitated control of stability problems. The size and shape uniformity, with smooth surface area, make minitablets attractive to be incorporated with different medications for the efficient treatment of chronic diseases. This overview outlines properties, production requirements, formulation options and evaluation methods of mini tablets.