Press-coating of immediate release powders onto coated controlled release tablets with adhesives

A novel adhesive coating was developed that allows even small quantities of immediate-release (IR) powders to be press-coated onto controlled-release (CR), coated dosage forms without damaging the CR coating. The process was exemplified using a pseudoephedrine osmotic tablet (asymmetric membrane technology, AMT) where a powder weighing less than 25% of the core was pressed onto the osmotic tablet providing a final combination tablet with low friability. The dosage form with the adhesive plus the press-coated powder showed comparable sustained drug release rates to the untreated dosage form after an initial 2-h lag. The adhesive layer consisted of an approximately 100- microm coating of Eudragit RL, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and triethyl citrate (TEC) at a ratio of 5:3:1.2. This coating provides a practical balance between handleability before press-coating and good adhesion.