Intraoral lidocaine formulations are applied in children and adults for pain relief. The potential risks associated with orally administered lidocaine due to accidental ingestions were highlighted in a warning letter by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This increases the urgency for a need of a child-appropriate dosage forms. For risk minimization, a novel buccal composite dosage form was developed consisting of a lidocaine containing minitablet centered on top of a bilayered mucoadhesive buccal film, so called composite. The preparation included direct tableting of minitablets as well as film-casting technique. Within a comparability study, the permeation of this composite was classified against marketed lidocaine gel, a single-layer film, and a minitablet. These ex-vivo permeation studies under physiologically related conditions in combination with LC-MS/MS quantification enabled the evaluation of permeation in clinically relevant short-term application. The composite showed comparable permeation to marketed gel (104.26 ± 30.15 µg/cm2 vs 128.17 ± 12.49 µg/cm2 cumulative amount of drug) and a higher permeation compared to film (25.84 ± 6.01 µg/cm2). Therefore, a controlled drug application can be assumed by the composite, whereby the risk of inadvertent swallowing as well as uncontrolled absorbed amount of drug substance may be substantially minimized.
Keywords: Buccal permeation; LC-MS/MS; Lidocaine; Minitablet; Oromucosal drug delivery; Paediatric.
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