Fernanda Onofre, Americas Regional Applications Leader, IFF Pharma Solutions, Wilmington, DE.

Fernanda Onofre

Fernanda Onofre, PhD, explains how the dsm-firmenich ModulaSENSE® Bitter platform and the functional application of vitamins as excipients are revolutionizing drug palatability and performance.

Beyond Bitterness: How Taste Science and Functional Excipients Improve Drug Performance

While the bitter taste of medicine is often an afterthought in development, it remains a critical barrier to patient compliance and brand success. Fernanda Onofre, PhD, Director of Global Marketing and Business Development for Pharma Biologics Solutions at dsm-firmenich, highlights how the company is addressing this challenge with ModulaSENSE® Bitter, a receptor-based technology that replaces traditional trial-and-error formulation with predictive, scientific insights. Beyond taste, she details how vitamins function as powerful excipients to stabilize formulations and mitigate risks like nitrosamine formation, providing formulators with an integrated toolkit to center patient health

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Submitted: May 14, 2021
Accepted: December 6, 2021

Even time-tested pharmaceutical ingredients can falter if they are not paired with the right thickening and suspending agents, resulting in destabilized formulations. Similarly, achieving an effective final suspension, with optimal suspension viscosity and stability, depends on adding the right blend of polymers. In this study, researchers evaluated the colloidal microcrystalline cellulose (cMCC) suspending agent—a co-processed material of microcrystalline cellulose and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC)—by using a representative pharmaceutical-grade commercial version of cMCC. In addition to cMCC, water-soluble polymers are often added as thickening agents to enhance performance. Researchers evaluated commonly used water-soluble polymers, such as hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), NaCMC, and povidone (PVP), as thickening agents in cMCC suspension formulations. cMCC suspensions were prepared with one of each thickening agent, in addition to one without a thickening agent, and studied for their rheological properties. Results showed a synergistic effect between HPMC and cMCC that increased the suspension’s viscosity and thixotropic property, leading to a stronger final gel-like network and suspending capability. However, adding PVP or NaCMC increased the initial viscosity but reduced the set-up suspension’s viscosity, which could indicate de-stabilization.

Yeli Zhang is North America Technical Manager; Elizabeth Tocce is Associate Scientist; Holly Bertrand is Research Investigator; Kevin McIntyre is Laboratory Supervisor; Fernanda Onofre, Americas Regional Applications Leader; and Amina Faham is Global Director of Applications Development & Innovation; IFF Pharma Solutions, Wilmington, DE.


Volume 46, Number 2
February 2022
Page: 40–44

When referring to this article, please cite it as Y. Zhang et al., “Polymer Influence on the Rheological Properties of Co-Processed Microcrystalline Cellulose and Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose,” 

Articles

In this study, researchers evaluated the colloidal microcrystalline cellulose (cMCC) suspending agent—a co-processed material of microcrystalline cellulose and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC)—by using a representative pharmaceutical-grade commercial version of cMCC.