Orodispersible Films-Current State of the Art, Limitations, Advances and Future Perspectives

Orodispersible Films (ODFs) are drug delivery systems manufactured with a wide range of methods on a big scale or for customized medicines and small-scale pharmacy. Both ODFs and their fabrication methods have certain limitations. Many pharmaceutical companies and academic research centers across the world cooperate in order to cope with these issues and also to find new formulations for a wide array of APIs what could make their work profitable for them and beneficial for patients as well. The number of pending patent applications and granted patents with their innovative approaches makes the progress in the manufacturing of ODFs unquestionable. The number of commercially available ODFs is still growing. However, some of them were discontinued and are no longer available on the markets. This review aims to summarize currently marketed ODFs and those withdrawn from sale and also provides an insight into recently published studies concerning orodispersible films, emphasizing of utilized APIs. The work also highlights the attempts of scientific communities to overcome ODF's manufacturing methods limitations.

Automated summary

Orodispersible Films (ODFs) are drug delivery systems that can be manufactured on a large scale or for customized medicines and small-scale pharmacy. However, there are limitations to both ODFs and their fabrication methods. Pharmaceutical companies and academic research centers are collaborating to overcome these limitations and develop new formulations for a wide array of APIs. The increasing number of pending patent applications and granted patents highlights the unquestionable progress in ODF manufacturing. This review provides a summary of currently marketed and discontinued ODFs, as well as recent studies on orodispersible films and the APIs used. It also discusses the attempts to overcome limitations in ODF manufacturing methods.