Citation: Benevent H, Masson N, “The ODtech Platform: A Range of Ready-to-Use Oral Forms”. ONdrugDelivery Magazine, Issue 89 (Aug 2018), pp 78-79.
Hugues Benevent and Nathalie Masson introduce the ODtech™ platform technology for oral medications, designed to provide an easy-to-use and ready-to-industrialise solution for tackling the human factors issues of standard oral pills.
“Platform technology solutions for oral formulation and industrialisation can prove invaluable when trying to address the human factors of oral therapies…”
It is an under-discussed issue in drug delivery today that there is a serious problem with the traditional “Holy Grail” of the once-a-day pill oral dosage form, that being that a significant number of patients either don’t like it or cannot take it. Non-compliance with oral therapies is often attributed to the medication’s unpalatable taste or smell, especially in paediatrics.1 However, studies are making it increasingly apparent that difficulty swallowing medication is also a major reason for oral therapy non-compliance.
Swallowing problems are generally underestimated. However, according to a study conducted in the Netherlands, they affect one in eight adults.2 Another study suggests that 70% of 16-24 year-olds and 44% of those over 65 have experienced difficulties swallowing tablets.3 Considering the ageing population, this issue must be taken seriously by pharmaceutical companies and the development of new drugs must consider this patient parameter to provide suitable formulations, particularly they must be made easier to swallow.
However, the well-established manufacturing processes continue to make the standard pill an attractive dosage form for pharma, and R&D expenses and regulatory hurdles can discourage tinkering too much with the formulation once an API has been developed with demonstrable tabletability and efficacy. For these reasons, platform technology solutions for oral formulation and industrialisation can prove invaluable when trying to address the human factors of oral therapies. One such platform is Unither Pharmaceuticals’ new ODtech™ range of technologies.
The ODtech™ platform produces ready-to-use dosage forms, for adapting oral medications to modern lifestyles and addressing swallowing difficulty, in a manner that is easy to adopt and industrialise. These technologies include:
“Swallowing problems are generally underestimated. However, according to a study conducted in the Netherlands, they affect one in eight adults…”
- Proprietary particle coating technology for effective taste masking
- Proprietary particle functionalisation technology for modified and customised release of the API
- Patented formulation for ease of swallowing
- Stick-pack packaging technology, both for liquid solid forms (Unistick®).
These new solutions aim to place the patient at the centre of pharmaceutical companies’ concerns, while also differentiating the medicines themselves from conventional forms, both in the over-the-counter and prescription drug market, whether for the launch of a new drug, or as a part of lifecycle management for an existing product.
In conclusion, the new ODtech™ platform, allows Unither to answer to multiple challenges. In particular, ODtech™ was developed to improve patients’ lives through innovative and easy-to-use dosage forms. In addition to those mentioned here, further innovative solutions will soon be added to the ODtech™ platform.
REFERENCES
- “A Hard Truth to Swallow”. Study by Spiegle Institute, 2016.
- Kertscher B et al, “Prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in the Netherlands: a telephone survey”. Dysphagia, Apr 2015, Vol 30(2), pp 114–120.
- “Les futurs pharmaciens mettent le cap sur l’observance”. Le Quotidien du Pharmacien, Jun 2018.
