Development of gummi drugs of aripiprazole as hospital formulations

About half of patients with schizophrenia have poor adherence to taking medication, so many have recurrence, therefore, providing formulations that enable patients to continue their medication without interruption is important. We aimed to develop a gummi drug that contains aripiprazole (which can reduce schizophrenia and manic symptoms in bipolar disorder). We were able to develop gummi drugs (OD-G, PW-G and OS-G) using three commercially available aripiprazole products (Abilify® orally disintegrating tablets, powder formulation, and oral solutions, respectively) as hospital formulations. Furthermore, we developed improved OD-G (iOD-G), which contained high aripiprazole content. Pharmaceutical characteristics of iOD-G were demonstrated to be suitable for hospital formulations, and iOD-G could be stored for ≤1 month. No significant differences in the dissolution and pharmacokinetics of divided portions of iOD-G were observed when compared with commercially available aripiprazole products. This study confirmed that new dosage forms of aripiprazole in gummi drugs can be developed as hospital formulations, which will contribute to improve medication adherence of patients.