<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>In the past, the administration of medicines for children mainly involved changes to adult dosage forms, such as crushing tablets or opening capsules. However, these methods often led to inconsistent dosing, resulting in under- or overdosing. To address this problem and promote adherence, numerous initiatives, and regulatory frameworks have been developed to develop more child-friendly dosage forms. In recent years, multiparticulate dosage forms such as mini-tablets, pellets, and granules have gained popularity. However, a major challenge that persists is effectively masking the bitter taste of drugs in such formulations. This review therefore provides a brief overview of the current state of the art in taste masking techniques, with a particular focus on taste masking by film coating. Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of taste masking are also discussed and commented on. Another important issue that arises frequently in this area is achieving sufficient dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs. Since the simultaneous combination of sufficient dissolution and taste masking is particularly challenging, the second objective of this review is to provide a critical summary of studies dealing with multiparticulate formulations that are tackling both of these issues.</p>
</abstract>

In the past, the administration of medicines for children mainly involved changes to adult dosage forms, such as crushing tablets or opening capsules. However, these methods often led to inconsistent dosing, resulting in under- or overdosing. To address this problem and promote adherence, numerous initiatives, and regulatory frameworks have been developed to develop more child-friendly dosage forms. In recent years, multiparticulate dosage forms such as mini-tablets, pellets, and granules have gained popularity. However, a major challenge that persists is effectively masking the bitter taste of drugs in such formulations. This review therefore provides a brief overview of the current state of the art in taste masking techniques, with a particular focus on taste masking by film coating. Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of taste masking are also discussed and commented on. Another important issue that arises frequently in this area is achieving sufficient dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs. Since the simultaneous combination of sufficient dissolution and taste masking is particularly challenging, the second objective of this review is to provide a critical summary of studies dealing with multiparticulate formulations that are tackling both of these issues.

Taste-masking methods in multiparticulate dosage forms with a focus on poorly soluble drugs

Acta Pharmaceutica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In the past, the administration of medicines for children mainly involved changes to adult dosage forms, such as crushing tablets or opening capsules. However,...

Taste-masking methods in multiparticulate dosage forms with a focus on poorly soluble drugs

Published Online: May 30, 2024

Page range: 177 - 199

Accepted: Jan 04, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acph-2024-0015

Keywords
multiparticulate dosage forms, taste masking, paediatric, film coating, solubility enhancement, evaluation methods

© 2024 Tilen Simšič et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Taste-masking methods in multiparticulate dosage forms with a focus on poorly soluble drugs

Published Online: May 30, 2024

Page range: 177 - 199

Accepted: Jan 04, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acph-2024-0015

Keywordsmultiparticulate dosage forms, taste masking, paediatric, film coating, solubility enhancement, evaluation methods

© 2024 Tilen Simšič et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
multiparticulate dosage forms, taste masking, paediatric, film coating, solubility enhancement, evaluation methods