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The biggest factor contributing to the success of a technology is mass appeal. Especially in the pharmaceutical industry, the mass appeal of novel technology, in addition to expert approval, can either spearhead or limit its possibilities and potential. This is because there won’t be any profits from a technology that does not have the consumer on its side.
Orally Soluble Films, known variably as Orally Dissolving Films, Orally Disintegrating Strips, or Oral Thin Films, have been a topic of discussion among the industry experts for a long time. It disrupted the drug administration system, something untouched for years which is why so much uncertainty and doubt lingered around it initially.
With multiple tests and formulations being developed in the Oral Thin Film format, more and more experts were favoring this form of dosage. In addition to fast buccal dissolving, these strips can hold precise dosage which has been difficult with other solid dosage forms.In short, this technology could change lives. But the bigger question is - how can it change mass appeal?
Patients, as consumers, have been taking their pills in the same forms for decades - solid dosage tablets, tonics, or capsules. They have grown to trust these drug forms because they’ve seen them their entire lives and they work just fine.
That is not the case with Oral Thin Films. It is fairly new and not many consumers (even today) are aware of this innovative drug-delivery form.
PharmaTech companies like ZIM Labs, who had successfully created effective formulations for OTF with the help of polymers, found it difficult to bring this technology to the consumers due to the lack of awareness among consumers about the benefits of this dosage form.
This led to designing innovative ways of bringing it to the market and letting the world know about the technology while helping consumers understand and get accustomed to it.
Traditional dosage forms, such as tablets and capsules, have been the default delivery method for most medications. While these methods do offer some advantages like convenience and accuracy, they come with a significant list of drawbacks.Orally Soluble Films (OSFs) are a relatively new dosage form that can be placed on the tongue, where they dissolve quickly and release their active ingredients. Here are some reasons for the rising popularity of OSFs among consumers:
Convenience: Convenience plays a major role in positive consumer perceptions towards OSFs. The storage, mobility, and administration of Orally Soluble Films are significantly easier than that of their traditional counterparts.
Compliance: OSFs can be highly beneficial for consumers who have a hard time swallowing pills or capsules. OSFs dissolve quickly on the tongue, making it easier to administer medications, even when water isn’t readily available.
Rapid Onset: OSF as a delivery method can be particularly beneficial for medications that are used to treat acute conditions, such as headaches or migraines. Consumers appreciate the fact that OSFs can provide fast relief from their symptoms.
Consumers generally have a positive perception of orally soluble films. OSFs are popular due to their convenience, improved taste and odor, and easy administration without water. OSFs are also preferred over tablets since they are lightweight, easier to carry, and ideal for people who have difficulty swallowing pills or capsules. Consumers also appreciate that OSFs can provide rapid onset of action and can be more palatable than other dosage forms. Overall, the many advantages of OSFs make them an increasingly popular option among consumers of all demographics.
One of the most innovative and widely tried stunts to popularize Oral Soluble Films was the production of breath mint as mouth freshening strips. Drug manufacturers either partnered with popular brands to produce these breath mints or started a vertical brand to promote these strips. And the results were extraordinary.
Consumers liked how the strips dissolved in their mouths in seconds and still felt perfectly refreshing throughout. Many companies started looking for this technology to manufacture their own line of mouth freshening strips but not all of them found success.
ZIM Labs’ Ziminta is an example of this attempt to familiarize the masses with this technology and the results have been quite satisfying.
Consumers have been raving about these products and word-of-mouth is popularizing them for good reasons.
With the success of the breath mints, the manufacturers and researchers wanted to take it further to help consumers realize that these strips can do more than just provide freshness. Since manufacturing prescription drugs in this form was still restricted, they went for the next best thing - dietary supplements.
Since dietary supplements are additional nutrients for the body and do not pose any risks or side effects, producing them in the Oral Thin Film form proved to be easier and faced no opposition from anyone.
Dietary supplements, or nutraceuticals, in this form have started circulating in the market and the reviews have been quite positive. Consumers are quite satisfied with the fact that they can carry these supplements around wherever they go and have one whenever they want.
Consumers, for the most part, are favoring the technology and experts seem to be more confident about it than ever, which means that the inclusion of this dosage form for prescription drugs might be sooner than previously thought.
ZIM Laboratories Limited is an innovative drug delivery solution provider focusing on improving patient convenience and adherence to drug intake. It offers a range of technology-based drug delivery solutions and non-infringing proprietary manufacturing processes for the production and supply of innovative and differentiated generic pharmaceutical products to global customers.ZIM Laboratories also provides its customers with a comprehensive range of value-added solid dosage differentiated generic products in semi-finished and finished categories/formulations including include granules, pellets, taste-masked powders, suspensions, tablets, capsules and it’s recently developed Oral Thin Films (OTF).
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