Development of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Polyethylene Glycol Copolymer-based Orodispersible Films Loaded with Entecavir: Formulation and In vitro Characterization.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to prepare entecavir (ETV)-loaded orodispersible films (ODFs) using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/polyethylene glycol (PEG) graft copolymer (Kollicoat® IR) as a film-forming agent, and further to evaluate the dissolution rate, mechanical and physicochemical properties of films.

Methods: ETV-ODFs were prepared by a solvent casting method. The amount of film-forming agent, plasticizer, and disintegrating agent was optimized in terms of the appearance, thickness, disintegration time and mechanical properties of ODFs. The compatibility between the drug and each excipient was conducted under high temperature (60 °C), high humidity (RH 92.5%), and strong light (4500 Lx) for 10 days. The dissolution study of optimal ODFs compared with the original commercial tablet (Baraclude®) was performed using a paddle method in pH 1.0, pH 4.5, pH 6.8, and pH 7.4 media at 37 °C. The morphology of ODFs was observed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties such as tensile strength (TS), elastic modulus (EM), and percentage elongation (E%) of ODFs were evaluated using the universal testing machine. The physicochemical properties of ODFs were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).

Results: The related substances were less than 0.5% under high temperature, high humidity, and strong light for 10 days when ETV was mixed with excipients. The optimal formulation of ODFs was set as the quality ratio of Kollicoat® IR, glycerol, sodium alginate (ALG-Na): TiO2: MCC+CMC-Na: ETV was 60:9:12:1:1:1. The drug-loaded ODFs were white and translucent with excellent stripping property. The thickness, disintegration time, EM, TS, and E% were 103.33±7.02 μm, 25.31±1.95 s, 25.34±8.69 Mpa, 2.14±0.26 Mpa, and 65.45±19.41 %, respectively. The cumulative drug release from ODFs was more than 90% in four different media at 10 min. The SEM showed that the drug was highly dispersible in ODFs, and the XRD, DSC, and FT-IR results showed that there occurred some interactions between the drug and excipients.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the developed ETV-loaded ODFs showed relatively short disintegration time, rapid drug dissolution, and excellent mechanical properties. This might be an alternative to conventional ETV Tablets for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.