Roller compaction and tableting of microcrystalline cellulose drug mixtures

Different types of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and blends of MCC, a mainly plastic deforming material and ibuprofen, used as a mainly fragmenting material were roller compacted,All MCC types, except Avicel(R) CE-15, produced excellent quality granules but the corresponding tablet mechanical strength was low. Addition of ibuprofen reduced the number of usable roller compactor parameter combinations. The presence of 25% ibuprofen had a negative influence on granule quality while the tablet mechanical strength improved. A further increase of the ibuprofen concentration yielded an acceptable granule quality and a high tablet mechanical strength due to the fragmentation and sintering properties of ibuprofen. It remained difficult to predict the influence of roller compactor pressure on the final tablet mechanical strength. Differences in MCC particle density influenced the dissolution rate more than the particle size. The presence of an additional dry binder did not improve granule strength and decreased the dissolution rate. The t(90) release values of the 75% ibuprofen tablets was low for hydrophilic gum-MCC associations, Avicel(R) PH-301 and PH-302. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.