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Sticking Detection by Repeated Compactions on a Single Tablet

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Abstract

“Sticking” during tablet manufacture is the term used to describe the accumulation of adhered tablet material on the punch over the course of several compaction cycles. The occurrence of sticking can affect tablet weight, image, and structural integrity and halt manufacturing operations. The earlier the risk of sticking is detected during R&D, the more options are available for mitigation and the less potential there is for significant delays and costs. The detection osf sticking, however, during the early stages of drug development is challenging due to the limitations of available material quantity. In this work, single tablet multi-compaction (STMC) and a highly sensitive laser reflection sensor are used to detect the propensity of sticking with ibuprofen powder blends. STMC can differentiate the various formulations and replicates the trends of sticking at different punch speeds. The results demonstrate the potential for STMC to be used as an extremely material sparing (requiring very few tablets) methodology for the assessment of sticking during early-stage development.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Elizabeth Moroz from GlaxoSmithKline for help with this project and the Material Science Department at GlaxoSmithKline for access to instrumentation.

Funding

The authors would like to thank GlaxoSmithKline for their financial support on this project. Phuong Bui was also partially funded by the Department of Education scholarship under award number P200A150240.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Drug Substance Development – Material Science, GlaxoSmithKline, 1250 S, Collegeville Rd, Collegeville, PA, 19426, United States of America

    James Thomas

  2. Department of Material Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States of America

    James Thomas, Phuong Bui & Antonios Zavaliangos

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  1. James Thomas
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  2. Phuong Bui
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  3. Antonios Zavaliangos
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Contributions

J.T. designed the custom components that enabled the STMC with rotation mechanism and executed the experiments. P.B. executed initial experiments for proof of concept including the effect of punch rotation. J.T. and A.Z. were responsible for the conceptual idea of the technique. A.Z. was responsible for the planning for the work and the discussion of mechanism.

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Correspondence to Antonios Zavaliangos.

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Thomas, J., Bui, P. & Zavaliangos, A. Sticking Detection by Repeated Compactions on a Single Tablet. AAPS PharmSciTech 24, 237 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1208/s12249-023-02694-6

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