Human mouthfeel panel investigating the acceptability of electrospun and solvent cast orodispersible films

A human panel study was performed to investigate the acceptability of orodispersible electrospun and solvent cast films. 50 healthy volunteers took two drug-free samples of polyvinyl alcohol films prepared by the two methods. On a 5-point hedonic scale, the volunteers assessed the films' perceived size, stickiness, thickness, disintegration time, thickening effect on saliva, and handling. The films manufactured by both methods were similar in their end-user acceptability. The modal values of perceived size, thickness, disintegration time, saliva thickening effect, and handling were high (4 or 5). However, for both, the stickiness mode was 2 (strongly sticky) and the only negative attribute. Both films were reported to take approximately 30 s to disintegrate completely in the mouth. Electrospun films scored similarly high to solvent cast orodispersible films in most attributes of end-user acceptability. Electrospun films were marginally preferred, with 27 out of 50 participants picking electrospinning when presented with a forced choice test of both fabrication methods. This is the first study to show that electrospinning enables the fabrication of orodispersible films that are acceptable to adult human participants in terms of handling and mouthfeel and suggests that the potential for clinical translation of such formulations is high.