How Can Extrusion Benefit Your Pharmaceutical Oral Drug Product?

By Bei Chen, AbbVie

Extrusion processing is intended to continuously manufacture (for continuous manufacture of) homogeneous and structured products. Due to its immense adaptability, extrusion has been widely utilized in diverse fields. It is being adopted more recently by the pharmaceutical industry at an unprecedented pace to address various drug product formulation and manufacturing needs. The twin screw extrusion process can be used to not only manufacture novel drug delivery systems via thermal or ambient temperature processing, but also to replace batch granulation processes. During extrusion, powder blend(s) or a granular mix is often compacted and converted into product of defined shape and density by forcing it through an orifice or die under controlled conditions. Compared to a traditional batch process, this exciting yet complex technology offers may advantages including but not limited to higher manufacturing efficiency and excellent product uniformity.