Unique mini-tablet dispenser meets flexible oral dosing need

Meeting the varied and individualised oral dosing needs of patients in areas such as paediatrics, geriatrics and oncology can be challenging.

The solution: Mini-Tablets

While liquid dosing presents an alternative to tablets, there are some drawbacks, which include: poor taste, often a deterrent for young patients; the need to refrigerate reconstituted suspensions to ensure stability over the course of treatment; overall inconvenience of dealing with liquids and the potential to spill; and the possibility of microbial contamination.

For these and other reasons, mini-tablets may offer a more attractive, viable option for these patient populations since mini-tablets can be flexibly dosed and easily swallowed.

The Drug Delivery Device: Mini-Tablet Dispenser from Phillips-Medisize

The systems currently available predominantly rely on volumetric measuring principles, but with this approach, it is unclear exactly how many mini-tablets are dispensed and thereby what dose is actually delivered to the patient.

The innovative dispenser from Phillips-Medisize enables patients and caregivers alike to ensure improved accuracy in counting the mini-tablets dosed without requiring a new or different bottle. The solution has been validated for child resistance and senior friendliness and has established its usability through four formative HFE studies.

• The Easy-to-use mini-tablet dispenser removes guesswork from the equation, enabling patients and caregivers to dispense the exact number of mini-tablets needed per dose accurately and reliably in single increments between 1-20 tablets
• It prevents potential contamination that could occur if patients poured out mini-tablets into their hand, counted out the ones needed, and poured the rest back into the bottle
• The patented, low-cost dispenser mounts directly on a standard Ø38 mm tablet bottle and can be used with mini-tablets having Ø2.0-2.5 mm in size (and option to be customised to fit other tablet dimensions and/or count ranges)
• Ability to add connectivity in the future will help encourage medication adherence
• It can be co-packaged with the medication bottle or supplied separately

CE marked samples can be supplied by year-end 2019 for clinical trial, and volume production could begin in early 2020, with Phillips-Medisize potentially serving as legal manufacturer. For regulatory approval, the device will be submitted as a Class I medical device in the EU and Class I 510(k) exempt in the US.