Fast-dissolving tablets (FDTs) are a new type of oral dose form that breaks down quickly in the mouth without water. They are great for kids, older adults, and people who have trouble swallowing. The goal of this study was to improve the formulation of FDTs using paracetamol as a model drug. It did this by using a 3² full factorial Design of Experiments (DoE) to look at how the concentrations of superdisintegrant and binder affected important quality factors like disintegration time, hardness, friability, and drug release. Direct compression was used to make nine formulations (F1–F9), which were then tested using standard pharmacopeial assays. Using ANOVA for statistical analysis, we found that higher quantities of superdisintegrant made the tablets break down faster and release the medicine better, while the amount of binder affected how hard the tablets were. Formulation F7 (6% superdisintegrant, 2% binder) had the best profile of all, with a disintegration time of 25 seconds and 98.3% drug release. The study shows that DoE is a good way to optimize the development of strong, patient-friendly FDTs that work well.
Shankar et al. (2025) studied this question.