Overview, Advantage And Disadvantage Of Pharmaceutical Implant Tablet

These tablets are implanted in the body cavities for a prolonged effect from several days to months up to year. These tablets are small in size and cylinder like in shape. Implantation is typically done in subcutaneous or intramuscular tissue, with the aid of special implantation devices, needles, or the use of surgery where they are slowly absorbed over a period of months or a year. Special injector with a hollow needle and plunger is used to administer the rod shaped tablet. For other shapes surgery is used.

Implant tablet

They are sterile formulations without excipients. Subcutaneous tissue or intramuscular tissue are ideal locations for implantation of drug-depot devices, due to high fat content that facilitates slow drug absorption, minimal innervation, good hemoperfusion, and a lower possibility of localized inflammation.

Read Also: Types And Classification Of Pharmaceutical Tablet

Mainly these tablets are prepared to deliver growth hormones to food producing animals. Ear is a preferred site for administration of drugs.

Types of Implants Tablet

• Biodegradable

• Non Biodegradable

Mechanism Of Drug Release From Implants Tablet

Various mechanism of drug release from implantable tablet using the zero-order release rate:

• Diffusion controlled

• Chemical controlled

• Swelling controlled

• Osmotically controlled

• Magnetically controlled

Preparation Of Implants Tablet

• Compression

• Moulding

• Extrusion 

Advantages Of Pharmaceutical Implant Tablet

• Convenience: Implantation tablet permits to receive medication outside the hospital

• Compliance: Compliance is increased immensely

• Potential for controlled release: Implant deliver drug by Zero order controlled release kinetics, avoids risk of toxicity, reduce dosing frequency, and increase patient compliance

• Potential for intermittent release: Externally programmed pumps can facilitate intermittent release

• Potential for bio responsive release: designed to release of drugs in response to external or biological stimulus

• Flexibility: Flexibility is possible in choice of materials, method of manufacture, degree of drug loading and drug release

• Commercially available: new drug product can extend the market protection of drug for additional years

• Effective for extended period: extend the release of drug

• Stability: Stable for longer period

• Targeted local delivery at a constant rate: deliver drug at constant rate

• Minimized systemic side effects: peaks and valleys in plasma drug concentration from repeated intermediate release dosing are avoided thereby reducing systemic side effects

• Lower dose: Localized implantation of site specific drugs can avoid first pass hepatic effects, thereby reducing dose required to ensure systemic bioavailability

• Administration: Hospital stay or continuous monitoring by healthcare staff may not be required for chronic illnesses

• Facile termination of drug delivery: if allergic or other adverse reaction to drug is experienced, discontinuation of therapy by implant removal is possible

Read Also: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Of Drug (Tablet)

 Disadvantages Of Implant Tablet

• Invasive: For the insertion of the implants the patient has to face either a major or a minor surgical procedure

• Termination: non-biodegradable polymeric implants can be terminated from the body also with the help of a surgical method at the end of the treatment

• Danger of device failure: If due to some reason the device fails to operate properly during the treatment then again surgical steps should be taken for removal of the device from the patient’s body

• Limited to potent drug: The size of the device is very small to reduce the patient’s discomfort, therefore only the potent drugs which are very small in amount can only be used in this system

• Adverse reaction: As a high concentration of drug is delivered to the implantation site with the help of the device therefore there is always a chance of adverse reaction due to this local high concentration

• Surgical personnel is required for this, and may be

time-consuming, traumatic. This causes some scar

formation at the site of implantation and surgery related complications in a very small number of

patients

• Uncomfortable feeling for the patient with the tablet under the skin

• Biocompatibility issues: Concerns over body reactions to a foreign substance often increase the issues of biocompatibility and safety of an implant

• Investment in terms of cost. An enormous amount of R&D investment, effort and time is required in the development of an ODDS. If a new material is proposed to formulate an implant its incompatibility and safety must be carefully evaluated to secure the approval of regulatory organisations. These issues can attribute to noteworthy delay in the progress, marketing and price of a new implant