Controlled Drug Delivery in Osmotic Tablets

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Osmotic tablets are drug-delivery systems that are used to deliver drugs in the body at a controlled rate over long periods of time. The core of the tablet mainly consists of a mixture of the active pharmaceutical ingredient(drug), osmogen such as salt and swelling polymer. The core is coated with a semipermeable membrane and small hole is drilled into it. When the tablet is ingested, the aqueous environment in the gut hydrates the tablet core and swells the polymer. The hydrostatic pressure created by the swelling pushes the hydrated drug out at a controlled rate. While osmotic tablets have used for more than three decades, a complete understanding of the process is not clear due to which the drug loading has been limited to about 20% of the total tablet weight. This project aims to get a deeper understanding of the drug delivery processes via detailed mathematical modelling. The project is funded by Pfizer(USA). The candidate will work with the Pfizer team closely as part of this project.

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