BIOMD202 8p1 Introduction to Pharmaceutical Formulation, Dosage Forms, and Drug Delivery

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the basics of drug formulation, excipients, various routes of administration, and the mechanisms of immediate vs. controlled drug release systems.

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API)

The active part of a medicine responsible for its pharmacological property, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol.

Excipients

Typically inert materials with no pharmacological property used to stabilize the API and make the medicine into an acceptable physical form.

Dosage Form

The combination of excipients and API prepared in an acceptable form for administration, such as solids, liquids, or gases.

Parenteral

A route of administration derived from the Greek words 'para' and 'intera', meaning anything outside the oral route, such as intravenous (IV) or intramuscular injections.

Immediate Release (IR)

A conventional drug delivery system where the drug payload is released straight away after administration, usually within minutes to an hour.

Controlled Release (CR)

A modified release dosage form that uses special excipients or polymers to release the medication over a longer period of time at a predetermined rate.

Drug Delivery System

A system (such as nanoparticles or liposomes) where the API is loaded into a carrier to deliver it from the site of administration to a targeted site.

Therapeutic Window

The safe range in plasma concentration between the minimum effective concentration (MEC) and the maximum toxic concentration (MTC).

Enteric Coated Tablets

Tablets coated with polymers that do not dissolve in the acidic environment of the stomach ($pH \text{ around } 2$) but dissolve in the intestine ($pH \text{ 6.5 to 7}$).

Matrix System

A monolithic system where the drug is uniformly dispersed throughout a polymer matrix, and release occurs via diffusion or erosion.

Membrane Control System

A delivery system where a drug-rich core or reservoir is separated from the environment by a rate-controlling membrane.

Osmotic Pump System

A technology, commercially known as OROS, that uses a semipermeable membrane and osmotic pressure to push the drug out through a small orifice.

Dose Dumping

A potential failure in controlled release products where the entire dose is released at once, which can be fatal for drugs with a narrow therapeutic index like morphine.

Polymers

Repetitive units of monomers, such as polyethylene glycol, used in formulations to control or retard the release of the drug payload.

Half-life

The time it takes for a drug concentration to reduce by half in the body; drugs with a short half-life, like Levodopa, often require frequent dosing.

Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC)

A polymer used as a coating material for tablets, especially for those that are not palatable.