Electrospun orally disintegrating film formulation of telmisartan

Telmisartan (TEL) is an antihypertensive BCS class II drug with low solubility at physiological pH. However, the solubility of TEL increases with the presence of an alkalizer. Electrospinning is one of the most recent techniques for the solubility enhancement studies. In this study, an electrospun orally disintegrating film (ODF) formulation of TEL was developed with L-arginine and polyvinylpyrrolidone K90 (PVP), and its characterization studies were performed. Preformulation studies were performed to investigate possible incompatibilities in the components of formulation with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) analyses. ODFs were characterized in terms of drug content and uniformity, mechanical properties, fiber shape and diameter and in vitro dissolution profile. Smooth nanofibers without any beads were obtained. The dissolution rate of the TEL significantly increased. The chosen formulation had acceptable mechanical properties with much faster dissolution compared to the commercially available product. Developed ODF and marketed product were compared with a dissolution study in phosphate-buffered solution (pH 7.4). ODF and marketed product both reached 100% release in the 45th minute, and ODF results showed that ODF had much faster release than marketed product. In this study, TEL ODF formulation was successfully produced and characterized.