Mucoadhesive Pellets for Drug Delivery Applications: A Critical Review

Pellets are spherical shaped multiparticulate drug delivery systems with size ranging between 0.5-2.0 mm. Free flow, good mechanical properties, improved physical and chemical properties of powder, and stability are some advantages of pellets. Mucoadhesive pellets could be developed by using appropriate concentration and type of mucoadhesive polymer. Mucoadhesive pellets can be used for delivery of drugs to gastric, colonic, and vaginal regions. Immediate release, sustained/controlled release and implantable delivery could be incorporated using mucoadhesive pellets. Reproducibility, ease of scalability, quality control checks and significant mechanical strength are some advantages making pellets widely acceptable by pharmaceutical industry. In the present review, mucoadhesion process and theories, mucoadhesive polymers, pelletization process, evaluation of pellets and reported research/patents on mucoadhesive pellets for delivery of different categories of drugs have been presented.