Oral Dosage Forms

Whatever the Oral Product, Upperton's Expertise Helps you Develop it

Oral administration remains the most widely used route for the successful delivery of active pharmaceuticals to patients. Dosage form design will be driven by a combination of factors including:

  • Speed of development (fast into clinic)
  • Anticipated dose
  • Excipients required to improve API stability or enhance bioavailability
  • Targeted (enteric) or modified (delayed) release profile requirement

Developing Oral Dosage Forms

Upperton can offer clients expert preclinical and clinical formulation development of oral solid dosage (OSD) forms; from early feasibility, right through to clinical manufacture. Formulations can range from simple powder in bottle/sachet for reconstitution to more complex capsules and tablets.

Typical Development Pathway

Capsule Formulations

Capsule formulations are often the favoured dosage form for initial clinical studies as they offer a fast, convenient way to deliver the API to the pharmacy. Capsules may contain simple unformulated API or more advanced formulations, such as amorphous spray-dried dispersions designed to enhance bioavailability

Tablet Formulations

Whilst capsule delivery represents the faster route into the clinic, tablets give more flexibility in the formulation and offer a more cost-effective solution for products entering later stages of development or commercial manufacture, as well as being a more established approach for targeted delivery.

Analytical Testing

Phase-appropriate methods are developed for analysis of OSDs from early-stage development, through to GMP manufacture.

Stability Testing

During the preclinical stage, accelerated stability studies focus on excipient compatibility, where API and excipients are blended together and stability assessed with ASAPprime®. More formal ICH stability studies are used during development to determine product stability/shelf life on technical and clinical batches manufactured under GMP conditions.

We’re here to help

If you’re looking to work with a CDMO that can support your product from preclinical development to market and beyond, then we’re here to help.
Speak to our team to discuss your requirements.

Related Resources