Natural Excipient Development:Need and Future

The objective of any formulation is to deliver drug to the patient in the definite amount, at the required rate, and maintains the stability of drug over the product's shelf life. To produce a drug formulation in a final dosage form, a number of pharmaceutical ingredients are required. In selecting excipients for pharmaceutical dosage forms and drug products the development pharmacist should be certain about the existing standards and safety parameters of the excipients. This will assure the consistent quality and functioning of the excipient. The selection and testing of non active ingredients or excipient in the design of drug dosage form present to the formulator the challenge of predictive foresight. While the ability to solve problems when they occur is a valuable attribute, the ability to prevent the problem through adequate experimental design is a virtue. The safety and biodegradability issues related to synthetic excipients have necessitates development of new natural excipients. Newer excipients provide the means for simplifying formulation development, and improving overall operational costs while preserving the quality that is expected by the industry. This review focuses on need to develop such newer natural excipients which shall be utilized to develop efficient dosage forms and the economics involved in doing so.