HPMC in Pharmaceuticals

The pharmaceutical excipient hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) is a non-ionic cellulose ether excipients, is currently the largest domestic and foreign use of medicinal excipients — a, as a medicinal excipient has more than 30 years of history. It is odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, soluble in cold water, gelation in hot water, low viscosity level HPMC can be used as adhesive, stickiness agent and suspension agent high viscosity level HPMC can be used to prepare mixed materials framework sustained-release tablets, sustained-release capsules, hydrophilic gel framework sustained-release tablets blocker, controlled release agent and pore channel agent.

Pharmaceutical excipient materials refer to excipients and adjuncts used in the production and dispensing of drugs. A substance, other than the active ingredient, that has been reasonably assessed for safety and is included in a pharmaceutical product. Pharmaceutical excipients have important functions of solubilizing, assisting dissolution, slow and controlled release in addition to forming, filling carriers and improving stability, which may affect the quality, safety and effectiveness of drugs.

Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose HPMC is one of the largest pharmaceutical excipients at home and abroad, which has been used as medicinal excipients for years. It is odorless, tasteless and non-toxic, soluble in cold water and gelatinous in hot water. HPMC as a natural hydrophilic polymer pharmaceutical auxiliary materials, not only can be used as tablet, granule, pill adhesive and disintegrant, film coating material, can also be used as a colloidal agent and suspension agent, slow release and controlled release preparation blocker, controlled release agent and pore-making agent, as well as the carrier of solid dispersion.

HPMC as binder and disintegrating agent. HPMC as a binder can reduce the contact Angle of drugs, so that drugs are easy to wet, and its own water can expand hundreds of times, so it can significantly improve the dissolution or release of tablets. HPMC has strong viscosity, for the texture of crisp or brittle hard raw materials can enhance its particle viscosity, improve its compressibility. HPMC low viscosity can be used as a binder and disintegrating agent, high viscosity only as a binder, the amount varies according to the model and requirements, the general amount is 2%-5%.

HPMC is used as a controlled release material for oral preparation. HPMC is a hydrogel framework material commonly used in sustained-release preparations. HPMC with low viscosity level (5~50mPa•s) can be used as binder, adhesive-enhancing agent and suspension aid, while HPMC with high viscosity level (4000~100000mPa•s) can be used to prepare mixed materials framework sustained-release tablets, sustained-release capsules, hydrophilic gel framework sustained-release tablets as a blocker. HPMC can be dissolved in gastric enteric fluid, has the advantages of good pressability, good fluidity, strong drug loading ability and drug release characteristics are not affected by pH, etc., is a very important hydrophilic carrier material in sustained release preparation system, commonly used as hydrophilic gel framework and coating material of sustained release preparation, and used in gastric floating preparation, sustained release drug film agent excipients.

HPMC as coating film forming agent. HPMC has good film forming, it forms a transparent film, tough, production is not easy to stick, especially for easy moisture absorption, unstable drugs, with it as an isolation layer can greatly improve the stability of drugs, prevent film discoloration. Compared with gelatin film formation, HPMC film has good uniformity and light transmittance. HPMC has a variety of viscosity specifications, appropriate selection, coating quality, appearance is better than the use of other materials, its commonly used concentration of 2%-10%.

HPMC as suspension agent. Suspended liquid preparations are commonly used in clinical dosage forms, which are heterogeneous dispersion systems of insoluble solid drugs in liquid dispersion media. The stability of the system determines the quality of suspended liquid preparation. HPMC colloidal solution can reduce the solid-liquid interface tension, reduce the surface free energy of solid particles, so that the heterogeneous dispersion system tends to be stable, is an excellent suspension agent. HPMC is used as a thickener for eye drops, with a content of 0.45%-1.0%.