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The Role of Excipients in the Microstructure of Topical Semisolid Drug Products

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The Role of Microstructure in Topical Drug Product Development

Abstract

The most common pharmaceutical dosage forms for topical delivery of drugs are creams, ointments, and gels, all of which are semisolid in consistency. Attributes that are critical to the effective performance of pharmaceutical semisolids include viscosity, API status, and bioavailability and shelf-life stability. Recent investigations have demonstrated that these critical attributes are driven by the microscale organization of matter (or microstructure) in the semisolid formulation. The microstructure is, in turn, affected by the selection of excipients, amount of excipients, quality of excipients, as well as the processing methods utilized to manufacture the semisolid product. This chapter explores the role of excipients in the microstructure of creams, ointments, and gels, as well as the impact of microstructure on their critical quality attributes and performance.

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Correspondence to Norman Richardson .

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Ethier, A., Bansal, P., Baxter, J., Langley, N., Richardson, N., Patel, A.M. (2019). The Role of Excipients in the Microstructure of Topical Semisolid Drug Products. In: Langley, N., Michniak-Kohn, B., Osborne, D. (eds) The Role of Microstructure in Topical Drug Product Development. AAPS Advances in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Series, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17355-5_5

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