Comparative investigations on different polymers for the preparation of fast-dissolving oral films

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objectives</jats:title> <jats:p>The aim was to compare different film-forming materials used for the preparation of fast-dissolving oral films.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>Films were prepared with and without caffeine and caffeine citrate as model drugs. The disintegration/dissolution behaviour of films was investigated using the newly developed slide frame method and Petri dish method. Films were also characterised by dynamic vapour sorption.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Key findings</jats:title> <jats:p>All films dissolved within 40 s. Drug-loaded films disintegrated more slowly than the equivalent drug-free formulations. Disintegration/dissolution was fastest with films made from the carboxymethyl cellulose C 30 PA 09 (drug-free &lt; 5 s, drug-loaded &lt; 10 s). Dissolution times for drug-loaded oral films made from C 30 PA 09 and HM 6 PA 2910 (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose) differed significantly (α= 0.05). Dynamic vapour sorption studies revealed higher water absorption ratios for carboxymethyl cellulose films, and these were sticky and difficult to handle.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title> <jats:p>This case study showed that hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose was the most suitable film-forming material for drug-free and caffeine-loaded films, providing fast dissolution films that were not sticky and were easy to handle.</jats:p> </jats:sec>