Prilling

Prilling can be used as a production process for multiparticulate lipid-based oral dosage forms using fatty acids (FA) as functional excipients, providing sustained-release properties or protection to moisture-sensitive pharmaceuticals. During the prilling process an API is dissolved, suspended or molten in a (mixture of) molten FA. Subsequently, individual droplets are formed out of this homogeneous mixture and cooled down rapidly whereby the FA solidifies again and a spherical matrix system is created.

Since API/FA solutions were already prilled successfully, the current research focusses on the processability and characterization of API/FA suspensions during lab-scale and upscaling experiments to increase the application field of prilling. To develop a versatile drug delivery platform, the composition of the matrix system is adjusted to control the drug release out of this FA based matrix system.