Preparation and evaluation of oral soft chewable jelly containing flurbiprofen

Oral jelly is a semisolid preparation that could resolve problem associated with dosage form's swallowing, especially in pediatric and elderly ones. This work aimed to prepare oral flurbiprofen (FBP) jelly to improve patient compliance. Heating and congealing method was used to prepare FBP jelly using three different polymers (pectin, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose). The effect of different concentrations of pectin and sucrose on jelly properties was studied. The results revealed that both pectin and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose polymers gave acceptable jelly appearance and consistency. It was also observed that the increase of pectin or sucrose concentration had a significant impact on jelly viscosity. All pectin jellies except formula containing 5.5% pectin and 50% weight by volume (w/v) sucrose exhibited more than 50% and 85% of FBP releasing within 15 and 30 min, respectively. The formula (FP2) consisting of 4.5% pectin and 40% w/v sucrose was selected as optimum formula which had a high percent dissolution efficiency (78.95%) and better consistency during handling. This work succeeded in the preparation of new FBP oral jelly, which can be considered a promising dosage form for enhancement of patient compliance and drug solubility.