Orally fast disintegrating tablets: Developments, technologies, taste-masking and clinical studies

Fast disintegrating tablets (FDTs) have received ever-increasing demand during the last decade, and the field has become a rapidly growing area in the pharmaceutical industry. Upon introduction into the mouth, these tablets dissolve or disintegrate in the mouth in the absence of additional water for easy administration of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The popularity and usefulness of the formulation resulted in development of several FDT technologies. This review describes various formulations and technologies developed to achieve fast dissolution/dispersion of tablets in the oral cavity. In particular, this review describes in detail FDT technologies based on lyophilization, molding, sublimation, and compaction, as well as approaches to enhancing the FDT properties, such as spray-drying, moisture treatment, sintering, and use of sugar-based disintegrants. In addition, taste-masking technologies, experimental measurements of disintegration times, and clinical studies are also discussed.