Hot-melt extrusion as processing technique for multiparticulate dosage forms containing lipophilic and hydrophilic polymers

The objective of this doctoral thesis was to develop by means of a simple, flexible and continuous procesesing technique (i.e. hot-melt extrusion) a multiparticulate dosage form with zero-order sustained-release properties. This study demonstrated that the in vitro and in vivo drug release kinetics could be varied by selecting a formulation with an appropriate ratio of lipophilic and hydrophilic polymers, and by changing the particle size and/or molecular weight of the hydrophilic polymer (i.e. xanthan gum and polyethylene oxide)