Equipment for drug release testing of medicated chewing gums

An apparatus was specially designed and constructed for release testing of medicated chewing gums. The adjustable instrumental settings such as temper ature, chewing frequency, chewing time, volume of test medium, distance bet ween the jaws and twisting angle increased the versatility of the apparatus . Selection of the test medium was also an important parameter. Each sample was kneaded mechanically in separate test chambers and the drug release wa s followed by sampling and HPLC analysis. Different gum formulations were t ested and the obtained results demonstrated satisfactory release curves for a variety of formulations and active ingredients. The tested gum formulati ons comprised nicotine, meclizine, dimenhydrinate and xylitol. The apparatu s proved to be suitable in product control of commercial batches but also a useful tool in the research and development of medicated gum formulations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.