title: Injection Molding and its application to drug delivery.
abstract: Injection Molding (IM) consists in the injection, under high pressure conditions, of heat-induced softened materials into a mold cavity where they are shaped. The advantages the technique may offer in the development of drug products concern both production costs (no need for water or other solvents, continuous manufacturing, scalability, patentability) and technological/biopharmaceutical characteristics of the molded items (versatility of the design and composition, possibility of obtaining solid molecular dispersions/solutions of the active ingredient). In this article, process steps and formulation aspects relevant to IM are discussed, with emphasis on the issues and advantages connected with the transfer of this technique from the plastics industry to the production of conventional and controlled-release dosage forms. Moreover, its pharmaceutical applications thus far proposed in the primary literature, intended as either alternative manufacturing strategies for existing products or innovative systems with improved design and performance characteristics, are critically reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche "P. Pratesi", Università degli Studi di Milano, via G. Colombo 71, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zema
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Loreti
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melocchi
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maroni
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gazzaniga
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004304:Dosage Forms; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D004339:Drug Compounding / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D015195:Drug Design; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D044367:Phase Transition; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004304:Dosage Forms; D004337:Drug Carriers; D011108:Polymers