Development of directly compressible powders via co-spray drying

Continuous production of directly compressible powders was achieved by coprocessing acetaminophen and carbohydrates via spray drying. Binary and ternary powder mixtures containing drug substance and carbohydrates were prepared by co-spray drying and evaluated on spray drying processibility, powder hygroscopicity, flowability, and compactability. The influence of process parameters during spray drying on the compaction behaviour of drug/excipient mixtures was investigated via Heckel analysis. Erythritol, lactose, maltodextrin, and mannitol were efficient in co-spray drying with acetaminophen. However, lactose mixtures showed poor flowability. Spray dried mixtures containing mannitol and erythritol were characterised as non-hygroscopic, highly dense, and good flowing powders. Mannitol increased tablet tensile strength in contrast with the poor compactability of erythritol. Maltodextrin was selected for further experiments because it provided excellent tablet tensile strength. The use of erythritol, maltodextrin and mannitol in binary drug/excipient mixtures resulted in high process yields. Compacts of erythritol, mannitol, and maltodextrin were characterised by higher tablet tensile strength at higher spray drying temperatures due to the increased particle fragmentation of erythritol and mannitol mixtures and to the increased plastic deformation of maltodextrin formulations. A combination of erythritol, maltodextrin, and mannitol was selected for further formulation and process optimisation of co-spray dried powders for direct compression.