Oral & Buccal Films
ODF & MBF
Oral Dissolvable (ODF) or Oral Thin Films (OTF) and Muccoadhesive Buccal Films (MBF) are placed on or under the tongue or buccally on the inside of the cheek.
They are immediately absorbed by the oral mucosa and the active substance is directly transported into the bloodstream.
Forms can be a single-layer or multi-layer system, with the active substance able to be dissolved in the matrix, emulsified or dispersed. It can also be bound as a complex in order to mask taste.
In general these films measure between 2 and 10cm² and have a thickness of 20 up to 500µm.
Benefits of ODF & MBF
ODF & MBF offer various benefits to both patients and pharmaceutical companies. With improved patient compliance, precise dosing oral films are considered as a sometimes recommended method of drug delivery having a lot of benefits.
Some medications may need to be delivered directly to the bloodstream trough sublingual or buccal mucosa to achieve higher bioavailability, while others may require oral adminstration for gastrotintestinal absorption. Oral films can also be designed for topical treatment without permeation of the API into the bloodstream or systemic absorption.
Oral and Buccal films can be taken without any additional fluids or actions, means they seem to be an ideal drug delivery sytem for patients having difficulty swallowing pills.
History of Films
The first Oral Dissolvable Film has been launched about 25 years ago as mouth refresher. The years after a few non prescription ODF e.g. for treatment of cold symptoms were introduced to the market, and ODF business had been rapidly growing with new films for different applications.
In 2010 the launch of a film for the treatment of pain relief can be considered as the big milestone in the history of ODF & MBF.
Due to repurposing of known APIs new films are currently being under development.
Recently launched and commercialized films have been films for the treatment of ALS, migraine and bipolar order and for user-friendly therapy of severe and acute allergic reactions and for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 requiring supplemental oxygen therapy.
Market of ODF &MBF
The overall market volume for Oral Films is currently estimated to be about 3 billion US dollar, and it is supposed to be still growing the next years with an yearly increase of approx. 9.6 %, dominated by some US players.
As the numbers of patients suffering from for example migraine, schizophrenia, allergies or Parkinson is increasing and as the application of oral films is easy and convenient currently you find a lot of new products introduced to the market all over the world.