Recently, fast dissolving films are gaining interest as an alternative of fast dissolving tablets. The films are designed to dissolve upon contact with a wet surface, such as the tongue, within a few seconds, meaning the consumer can take the product without need for additional liquid. This convenience provides both a marketing advantage and increased patient compliance. As the drug is directly absorbed into systemic circulation, degradation in gastrointestinal tract and first pass effect can be avoided. These points make this formulation most popular and acceptable among pediatric and geriatric patients and patients with fear of choking. Over-the-counter films for pain management and motion sickness are commercialized in the US markets. Many companies are utilizing transdermal drug delivery technology to develop thin film formats. In the present review, recent advancements regarding fast dissolving buccal film formulation and their evaluation parameters are compiled.

The principle objective of formulation of lipid-based drugs is to enhance their bioavailability. The use of lipids in drug delivery is no more a new trend now but is still the promising concept. Lipid-based drug delivery systems (LBDDS) are one of the emerging technologies designed to address challenges like the solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. Lipid-based formulations can be tailored to meet a wide range of product requirements dictated by disease indication, route of administration, cost consideration, product stability, toxicity, and efficacy. These formulations are also a commercially viable strategy to formulate pharmaceuticals, for topical, oral, pulmonary, or parenteral delivery. In addition, lipid-based formulations have been shown to reduce the toxicity of various drugs by changing the biodistribution of the drug away from sensitive organs. However, the number of applications for lipid-based formulations has expanded as the nature and type of active drugs under investigation have become more varied. This paper mainly focuses on novel lipid-based formulations, namely, emulsions, vesicular systems, and lipid particulate systems and their subcategories as well as on their prominent applications in pharmaceutical drug delivery.

Clobazam orally dissolving strips were prepared by solvent casting method. A full 32 factorial design was applied for optimization using different concentration of film forming polymer and disintegrating agent as independent variable and disintegration time, % cumulative drug release, and tensile strength as dependent variable. In addition the prepared films were also evaluated for surface pH, folding endurance, and content uniformity. The optimized film formulation showing the maximum in vitro drug release, satisfactory in vitro disintegration time, and tensile strength was selected for bioavailability study and compared with a reference marketed product (frisium5 tablets) in rabbits. Formulation (F6) was selected by the Design-expert software which exhibited DT (24 sec), TS (2.85 N/cm2), and in vitro drug release (96.6%). Statistical evaluation revealed no significant difference between the bioavailability parameters of the test film (F6) and the reference product. The mean ratio values (test/reference) of C max (95.87%), t max (71.42%), AUC0−t (98.125%), and AUC0−∞ (99.213%) indicated that the two formulae exhibited comparable plasma level-time profiles.

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Drug products not only contain "actives" that confer the intended therapeutic benefits such as pain relief or act on particular part of the body, but contain other materials that are also "functional" with respect to the drug product. These are known as excipients and specific functionality which they confer to a particular product is independent upon the process used to add the excipient to the formulation and its exact location within the final dosage form. Introduction of novel drug delivery systems and new drug moieties lead to the need for new excipients with varied characteristics. Development of new excipient entities and their evaluation is a costly procedure; modification of existing excipients is very easy, more economical and less time consuming. The development of excipients that are capable of fulfilling multifunctional roles such as enhancing drug bioavailability and drug stability as well as controlling the release of the drug according to the therapeutic needs is one of the most important prerequisites for further progress in the design of novel drug delivery systems. The main focus of this article is on synthetic novel excipients that perform multiple functions in pharmaceutical formulations.