Drug-fatty acid salt with wax-like properties employed as binder in melt granulation

The tacky and deformable properties of a wax-like drug-fatty acid salt, propranolol oleate (POA), make particle size reduction and separation challenging. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of POA as binder in a melt granulation procedure to improve processing properties. POA is a suitable candidate for binder phase in melt granulation with a melting temperature of 50-56 degrees C. Small batches (ca 30 g) were manufactured using a high shear mixer with lactose monohydrate as the substrate phase. Optimum uniformity of drug content and minimum friability were found at 10% w/w POA binder concentration. POA melt granules exhibited a >10-fold increase in the rate of in vitro dissolution at pH 7.4 with 0.2% w/v sodium lauryl sulphate compared with raw POA. The increased drug surface area in granular form was thought to be responsible for the change in dissolution behaviour. This study has demonstrated that melt granulation using POA as binder is a viable process which leads to beneficial changes in dissolution behaviour for the lipophilic drug-fatty acid salt.