Fabrication of indomethacin-loaded polyvinyl alcohol filaments through hot-melt extrusion

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to prepare the drug-loaded filament by hot-melt extrusion technique. Indomethacin (IND) was used as a model drug and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used to produce the filament. The IND-PVA filament had clear yellow color and rough surface. Drug loading in the filament that was determined from three segments of the filament was similar, indicating that IND was homogeneously distributed in the filament.This finding was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffraction. In addition, thermogravimetric analysis data suggested that the drug and polymer were not degraded at temperature used in extrusion process. The filament could be further developed as dosage form or applied as starting material for 3D-printed dosage forms.