Pascale Gauthier

Teenagers as a Moving Target: How Can Teenagers Be Encouraged to Accept Treatment?

Pediatric patients exhibit their own needs and problems and are now considered as a real patient group in which downsizing the adult formulation is not the best choice and may result in problems. Adolescence (between 12 and 18 years) is a transitional period of life from puberty to adulthood and, in this pediatric subgroup population, complex problems are observed in compliance with chronic treatments. Heterogeneity exists in this group which follows very different and sometimes short trends and tendencies and where illness can be a problem leading to stigmatization. Influence of social environment as well as friends is complex in this period of life. Teenagers have to take care of themselves and be part of the treatment including all the features of the social code of this group. Particular attention has to be paid to formulation and packaging in order to increase compliance and to suit the specific needs of this pediatric subgroup. Some examples are given for different drug forms.

Developing Drugs for Children and the Adjustment of Medication—Is It a New Challenge or an Adaptation of Past Ideas?

Nowadays the adjustment of medication for each patient is at the center of health strategy. Children can be considered as specific targets with their own specificities. In the oral route field some examples of drugs especially adapted to children can be found. Design is introduced in drug formulation to offer a better choice of products and now, children can be considered as partners in their own treatment. Enhanced comprehension of childrens requirements can also lead to creation of drugs that improve compliance.

Single process for manufacturing spheres with a lipid base (HCO)

Pellets and spheres are manufactured in the pharmaceutical industry by various processes which are not always easily automated. In this paper, a ‘single pot process’ is described using rotary fluid bed granulation with lipid fillers. This technology is based on wet granulation of powder components, continuously suspended in a fluidized air with a tangentially sprayed liquid solution. After a previous work devoted to selection of matrix filler, this work focuses on lipid component: hydrogenated castor oil, used as matrix filler associated with theophylline as tracer. Spheres manufactured can be introduced either directly into a hard gelatine capsule or compressed as tablets. The influence of the formulation and process parameters on the sphere manufacture in terms of feasibility is studied with in vitro tests. Spraying time and weight of liquid sprayed are found to be the most relevant parameters that governed the final quality of the sphere.

Study of the influence of coating methods on lipid spheres manufactured on rotor fluidized bed process

Abstract Different previous works have shown that various kinds of spheres can be manufactured by rotor granulation in a ‘single-pot process’ using a lipid base: hydrogenated castor oil. This single-pot technology is based on wet granulation where all components are placed in the powder form in the rotor bowl; then, they are continuously suspended in a fluidized air, with a tangentially sprayed liquid solution. This process allows the granulation and manufacturing of sphere during the same time. Previous experiments have studied the influence of the formulation and the manufacturing process parameters on spheres in terms of feasibility and dissolution properties. Both the spraying time and the weight of liquid sprayed were found to be the most relevant parameters that govern the final quality of the sphere. Now, in a second part of the work, a first comparison is made with two different fluid bed methods: the tangential rotor spray and the Wurster bottom spray for coating the lipid spheres previously manufactured with the rotor tangential spray. The external aspect of the coated spheres manufactured has been evaluated with an electronic microscopy analysis and a study of dissolution properties of the active ingredient has been done by USP in vitro dissolution tests.