Solid microneedle assisted transepidermal delivery of iloperidone loaded film: Characterization and Skin deposition studies

Abstract

Transepidermal microneedle-assisted drug delivery is an alternative approach that can improve the therapeutic permeability of the drug in the deeper layers of the skin. The project aims to check the effect of a microneedle roller on transepidermal delivery of Iloperiodone across the neonatal porcine skin ex-vivo. In this study, the response surface technique with 32 factorial design is used for Iloperidone (ILO) transdermal films optimization. ATR-FTIR, DSC, tensile strength, and water vapor barrier tests were used to characterize the transdermal films. Further epidermal water loss, dissolution, ex-vivo permeation, and Skin deposition studies were carried out for solid microneedle. The optimized transdermal film increased the dissolution profile of the drug with high folding endurance and showed stability for six months. Higuchi kinetic model is considered to be the best fit model. The mean flux of microneedle-treated transdermal film of ILO, determined using a developed HPLC technique, was 21.28 ± 0.15 μg/cm2/h. Flux was observed to be substantially greater in microneedle-treated skin than in passive skin. The current study emphasizes that the poke-and-patch method could be used to deliver an antipsychotic medication transepidermally.