Development and evaluation of a buccal bioadhesive system for smoking cessation therapy

The objective of the present study was to develop a bilayered buccal bioadhesive film formulation of nicotine hydrogen tartrate for smoking cessation therapy, comprising a bioadhesive drug layer and a backing layer, which releases the drug at a pre-determined rate for a period of 4 h. Formulations were prepared using various bioadhesive polymers and were evaluated for physical parameters like peelability, flexibility, softness, bioadhesive strength, tensile strength, dispersion time and pharmaceutical parameters such as thickness, swelling, content uniformity, water vapour permeability and drug release. Based on these parameters formulation N2, containing hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and polycarbophil as the bioadhesive polymers, was selected as the optimized formulation. The formulation showed suitable adhesion and an initial burst release of 40% drug in first 15 min followed by a total 80% drug release in a characteristic manner until 4 h; which is the desired time of application. This release pattern is beneficial for patients suffering from emergent cravings. Backing layers of the films were studied by a moisture vapor permeability test and it was observed that the percentage of moisture which permeated through single layered films was much higher than through bilayered films implying that a backing layer would prevent washing out of drug by the saliva.