The easiest and simplest route of drug administration is oral ingestion. Traditionally, this has been achieved using solid tablets or capsules, which are swallowed whole and break down in the gastrointestinal tract to release their active pharmaceutical ingredients.
However, swallowing tablets is not always easy. Tablet shape, surface texture, and taste also lead many patients to dislike solid medicines. These factors combine to reduce patient compliance, subsequently impacting treatment effectiveness. One way to circumvent these problems is to design oral dosage forms that are more userfriendly.
Dr. Thomas Hein, Director Sales & Business Development at HERMES PHARMA, discusses the advantages of user-friendly dosage forms for patients and pharmaceutical companies, as well as the challenges associated with their development and production.
The executive interview was published in Drug Development & Delivery, March 2014, pp. 68-71.