Recent Formulation Advances and Preparation of Orally Disintegrating Tablets.

The cost of research and development for a single new treatment that reaches the market is enormous and rising, with estimates ranging from $1 billion to $2 billion. Because of the high cost of development and the need to quickly access multiple technologies, it is more cost-effective (clinically and financially) to optimize existing drugs for potency, selectivity, drug metabolism, and dosing convenience before they reach the market. This has resulted in the development of orally disintegrating tablets. Orally disintegrating tablets are patient-oriented pharmaceutical preparations which aim to enhance the safety and efficacy of the drug molecule by formulating a dosage form which disintegrates or dissolves in a few seconds after placement in the mouth. This dosage form has gained popularity among the general public because it is easily administered to geriatrics patients, pediatric patients, patients with poor physiological abilities (e.g., patients suffering from mental disorders), and patients with physical abilities (e.g., patients suffering from dysphagia), traveling patients that may not have ready access to water, and to patients that are in a situation where swallowing conventional solid oral-dosage forms presents difficulties. These tablets can be prepared in many ways like direct compression, freeze drying, sublimation, molding, and spray drying by using single or combinations of superdisintegrants or subliming agents.