A REVIEW ON FAST DISSOLVING FILMS FOR BUCCAL DELIVERY OF LOW DOSE DRUGS

Fast-dissolving drug-delivery systems were first developed in the late 1970s as an alternative to tablets, capsules, and syrups for pediatric and geriatric patients who experience difficulties swallowing traditional oral solid- dosage forms. Fast dissolving films have become a novel approach to oral drug delivery system as it provides convenience and ease of use over other dosage forms such as orally disintegrating tablets, buccal tablets, and sublingual tablets, so mouth dissolving films are gaining the interest of a large number of pharmaceutical industries. Mouth dissolving films are thin solid dosage forms which, when placed in the oral cavity, dissolve within a few seconds without chewing and intake of water. The oral, buccal mucosa being highly vascularized, drugs can absorb directly and can enter the systemic circulation without undergoing first-pass hepatic metabolism. This advantage can be exploited in preparing products with improved oral bioavailability of molecules that undergo first pass effect. These films offer a convenient way of dosing medication pediatric, geriatric, and bedridden patients. The sublingual and buccal delivery of a drug via thin film has the potential to improve the onset of action, lower the dosing, and enhance the efficacy and safety profile of medicament. An ideal film should have properties like pleasant taste, high stability, and ease of handling. The present review provides an account of various formulation methods and their evaluation used in film formulations and applications of mouth dissolving films.