¹Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University, 35620, İzmir, Turkey
²Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Düzce University, Düzce, Turkey
³International Flavors & Fragrances, İstanbul, Turkey
⁴Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Istanbul Health and Technology University, İstanbul, Turkey DOI : 10.29228/jrp.690 Although the oral route is a common drug administration route, it still causes some patient compliance problems. Gummies are chewable gels that are commonly manufactured as dietary supplement carriers and their pharmaceutical use is still limited. Dexketoprofen trometamol is an anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drug. In the present study, dexketoprofen containing gummies were manufactured using carrageenan (Gelcarin®GP-379) as the gel-forming polymer. Potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4) was used as the gelling agent in the research. The obtained gummies were characterized. For this purpose, gel viscosity measurements, morphological and physical characterizations, thermal analysis, and in vitro drug release studies were carried out. The viscosity of the gel mixtures was measured at 50°C, which was the pouring temperature of the gels into molds. The formulation containing the highest carrageenan and KH2PO4 had the highest viscosity. The physical characterization results showed that the gummy formulations could be prepared in a reproducible manner. The DSC thermograms showed that the melting peak of DXT was not observed in the gummy formulation. The in vitro dissolution test results of the gummies showed that decreasing the carrageenan and KH2PO4 concentration in gummy formulation accelerated the drug release. The obtained gummies exhibited an extended-release of up to 2 hours. Keywords : Vegan drug gummy; dexketoprofen; carrageenan; oral drug gummy; chewable hydrogel