Gels

Gels refer to thick liquid or semi-solid preparations in which drugs and gel-forming excipients are made into solutions, suspensions, or emulsions. The gel is usually limited to topical application to the skin and body cavities (such as the nasal cavity, vagina, and rectum). Skin is the main route of local drug delivery system. Many widely used topicals, such as ointments, creams and lotions, have many disadvantages because they are usually sticky and can cause discomfort to patients. In addition, they have a small spreading coefficient in most semi-solid preparations, which need to be applied by friction, and show stability problems due to all these factors.

Fig.1 Hydrogel of a superabsorbent polymer.

The team of CD Formulation is leading experts in all aspects of pharmaceutical formulation development and dosage form optimization, we can accord the characteristics of the API and the development goals of the customers to design the formulation of gels. CD Formulation can provide you with one-stop services to meet your needs of gels.

Application of Gels

• As delivery systems for orally administered drugs
• For topical drugs applied directly to the skin, mucous membrane or the eye
• As long acting forms of drug injected intramuscularly or implanted into the body
• Lubricant for catheters
• Bases for patch testing
• Sodium fluoride & Phosphoric acid gel for dental care prophylactic

Basic Raw Materials Used in the Development of Various Gels

• Aqueous
• Natural polymers
• Semisynthetic polymers
• Organogel
• Lacithine based
• Gelatin
• Sorbitan-estar based
• Globulation, or droplet formation

The Process of Developing Gels

When preparing gels, the water soluble drugs in the prescription are usually dissolved in some water or glycerin. When necessary, they are heated. The remaining ingredients in the prescription are made into the hydrogel matrix according to the preparation method of the matrix, then mixed with the drug solution, and then added to the enough amount of water. Water insoluble drugs can be first refined and dispersed with a small amount of water or glycerin, and then mixed with the matrix. Several common ways to prepare gels: trituration, fusion and chemical reactions.

If you have a requirement about gels services, please contact us by phone or email, our colleagues will reply to you within three working days.

References

1. Roychowdhury S, Singh D, Gupta R, et al. A Review on Pharmaceutical Gel[J]. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research & Bio Science, 2012, 1(1): 33-47.
2. Sonam V, Charu S, Easwari T, et al. Emulsion Based Gel Technique: Novel Approach for Enhancing Topical Drug Delivery of Hydrophobic Drugs[J]. International Journal for Pharmaceutical Research Scholars, 2014, ;3:649-59.
3. Jill S. Recent Advances in Semisolid Dosage Form[J]. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, 2017.