News Release

Novel chewing gum formulation helps prevent motion sickness

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists

Arlington, Va. — A new prototype for medicated chewing gum has been developed for motion sickness that may offer many advantages over conventional oral solid dosage forms. About 33 percent of people are susceptible to motion sickness in mild circumstances and 66 percent are affected in more severe conditions. This research is being presented at the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 14 – 18, an international event anticipating more than 8,000 attendees.

Lead researcher Mohsen Sadatrezaei of RoshaDarou Co. and a team of researchers consisting of Niloufar Pouyan, Zoherh JafariAzar and Alireza Ghaffari from the Islamic Azad University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Tehran, Iran), have developed a medicated gum that will improve patient compliance and faster absorption through the cheek, which will alleviate motion sickness sooner. A sensory panel was used to test faster absorption through the buccal cavity, which will result in earlier onset of action against motion sickness. Panelists also ranked the gum on bitterness and easiness to chew.

"The main challenge in delivering drugs through chewing gum is masking the bitter taste of its active ingredient," said Sadatrezaei. "We have formulated dimenhydrinate as chewing gum with acceptable taste and sensory attributes. Dimenhydrinate is among the best drug candidates for treatment of motion sickness, providing a comfortable and acceptable drug delivery."

The final formulation has great potential for dimenhydrinate chewing gum commercialization. Moreover, the outcome of the study can be used as a platform to incorporate other active ingredients with objectionable taste into chewing gum.

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The 2012 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, aims to improve global health through advances in pharmaceutical sciences. The meeting features more than 90 programming sessions, including more than 50 symposia and roundtables.

AAPS is pleased to announce that our smartphone application is available at the 2012 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition. This application can assist meeting attendees with anything and everything they need to navigate the conference at their fingertips.

Editor's Note: All press must provide press credentials to attend this meeting. The deadline for online media registration is Oct. 5. After that date, media must register on-site. For media registration, please contact Kimberly Brown at BrownK@aaps.org or (703) 248-4772. To schedule an interview with Mohsen Sadatrezaei or for any other press inquiry, please contact Hillarie Turner or Dana Korsen at aaps@ecius.net or 202-296-2002.

About AAPS:

The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists is a professional, scientific society of approximately 11,000 members employed in academia, industry, government and other research institutes worldwide. Founded in 1986, AAPS provides a dynamic international forum for the exchange of knowledge among scientists to serve the public and enhance their contributions to health. AAPS offers timely scientific programs, on-going education, information resources, opportunities for networking, and professional development. For more information, please visit www.aaps.org. Follow us on Twitter @AAPSComms; official Twitter hashtag for the meeting is: #AAPS2012.


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