Tim Bee

Tim Bee is a senior director of pharmaceuticals at International Specialty Products, 1361 Alps Rd., Wayne, NJ 07470, tel. 973.628.4148.

Polymeric excipients have been used in the pharma industry for years. Historically, their greatest use has been as binders and disintegrants to improve the physical properties of granules and tablets.

The addition of superdisintegrants to oral solid dosage forms can improve disintegration and, in turn, drug dissolution.

The authors examine common superdisintegrants (i.e., crospovidone Type A, crospovidone Type B, croscarmellose sodium, and sodium starch glycolate) with a set of poorly soluble drug actives and evaluate in vitro drug dissolution.