by Stacey Lemus, BS, and Courtaney Davis, BBA, PCCA Senior Formulation Specialists

PCCA offers many oral base vehicle options for use in compounding. We break down the characteristics of several of these oral vehicles below to help guide you on choosing the most appropriate base for your compound.

Use caution when using certain vehicles in patients with special dietary restrictions such as diabetes or autism. When compounding for veterinary use, the pharmacist should assess each vehicle to ensure it is appropriate for the animal’s species. It is also important to check the pH of your compounded preparation to ensure adequate preservation in the chosen base.

PCCA SUSPENDIT® (PCCA #30-4825)

• An all-in-one oral suspension base developed with superior anti-sedimentation technology.
• Natural suspending agent with a patented synergistic polymer complex that offers a unique thixotropic flow— it thins as it’s shaken and thickens upon standing— which allows rapid redispersion of APIs with agitation and minimizes sedimentation.
• All-natural sweetener derived from monk fruit.
• Formulated without sugar, parabens, gluten, casein and dyes.
• When wetting an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to make formulations using SuspendIt, most are wet with the vehicle base itself rather than using glycerin or propylene glycol.
• Preserved with a combination of potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate, which is suitable for preparations with a pH below 6. In certain formulations where the pH may be higher, it would be suggested to refrigerate or additional testing may be required to validate the preservation.

Veterinary Use

SuspendIt contains sodium benzoate, a potential toxin to felines when chronically ingested, so limit use to two weeks. The pharmacist should assess each vehicle to ensure it is appropriate for the animal’s species.

PCCA-PLUS™ ORAL SUSPENDING VEHICLE (PCCA #30-3227)

• Contains a suspending agent but no sweeteners.
• Oral suspension base often used 1:1 with PCCA Sweet-SF™ Sugar Free Syrup Vehicle (PCCA #30-3228) or PCCA Syrup Vehicle™ (PCCA #30-3521).
• Use glycerin or propylene glycol to wet APIs.
• Preserved with potassium sorbate, methylparaben and propylparaben; effective over a wider pH range.

Veterinary Use

Appropriate for vet use, although the pharmacist should assess each vehicle to ensure it is appropriate for the animal’s species.

PCCA SWEET-SF SUGAR FREE SYRUP VEHICLE

• Oral base vehicle used alone or 1:1 in combination with PCCA-Plus Oral Suspending Vehicle.
• Contains no suspending agent. API must be soluble or mix 1:1 PCCA Sweet-SF with PCCA-Plus to suspend insoluble API.
• Use sorbitol as sweetener and cherry as flavor.
• Use glycerin or propylene glycol to wet API.
• Preserved with potassium sorbate, methylparaben and propylparaben; effective over a wider pH range.

Veterinary Use

Appropriate for vet use, although the pharmacist should assess each vehicle to ensure it is appropriate for the animal’s species.

PCCA SYRUP VEHICLE

• Contains approximately 56% sucrose, which is less than other syrup vehicles but still maintains a pleasant, sweet taste.
• A good choice for medications that have a bitter and salty taste.
• Use caution when using this vehicle in patients with special dietary restrictions such as diabetes or autism.
• When wetting API to make formulations using Syrup Vehicle, most are wet with the vehicle base itself rather than using glycerin or propylene glycol.
• Preserved with sodium benzoate, which when used alone requires a more acidic pH for preservative effectiveness (4.6 or below) unless combined with PCCA-Plus.

Veterinary Use

Appropriate for vet use, although the pharmacist should assess each vehicle to ensure it is appropriate for the animal’s species.

PCCA FIXED OIL SUSPENSION VEHICLE™ (PCCA #30-4316)

• Anhydrous vehicle for APIs that are known to be unstable in water or if the aqueous stability is unknown.
• Anhydrous, contains no water, which allows for extended beyond-use dating of the formulation depending on the API used.
• When appropriate, oil bases can help coat a drug particle in suspension, thus making a bad-tasting drug more palatable.
• Contains suspending agent but no sweeteners, giving you the flexibility to add your own sweetener for customization.
• When wetting API to make formulations using Fixed Oil Suspension Vehicle, most are wet with the vehicle base itself rather than using glycerin or propylene glycol.
• pH not applicable since anhydrous.

Veterinary Use

Certain species, such as avian (birds), are prone to aspiration when using oil vehicles. Make sure to consult with the pet owner and ensure a proper handling relationship with the animal to avoid issues. This vehicle is not appropriate for use in equine (horses) and certain species of rodents and reptiles. The pharmacist should assess each vehicle to ensure it is appropriate for the animal’s species.

PCCA BITTER DRUG POWDER™ USE 26 MG/ML (PCCA #30-3447)

• Contains a suspending agent and a blend of sweeteners.
• Helps mask the undesirable taste of medications as well as suspend the actives that may not be soluble in the preparation.
• For use in aqueous formulations only and when no other suspending agent is used.
• The recommended use is 26 mg/mL.
• See PCCA Formula #5795, Bitter Drug Powder Oral Suspension.
• Contains sodium benzoate.

Veterinary Use

Not suggested for vet use. May use Dry Powersweet (PCCA # 30-4948) 0.1-1%, acesulfame potassium 0.1-0.5% or steviol glycosides 95% 0.1-0.5% instead.

PH AND PRESERVATIVES

It is important to check the pH of your compounded preparation to ensure adequate preservation. Since some formulas have a higher pH, refrigeration may be required (per USP guidelines for preservative-free preparations) due to potential lack of preservative action of the base in a higher pH environment. Parabens may be added to the preparation to ensure preservative action.

FLAVORING

Every API has a specific taste characteristic such as bitter, sour, sweet or salty, so it is important to have a variety of flavors in stock to enhance the taste of compounded oral formulations.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• See our PCCA Blog post, How to Start Building Your Flavoring Inventory , for general information on flavoring, emulsifiers and sweeteners for oral bases.
• For detailed information on flavoring, refer to our PCCA Flavor Guide on the Members-Only Website > Formulas > Flavor Guide or at Members-Only Website > Resources > Formula Tools > Flavor Guide
• Access FormulaPlus™ extended beyond-use date studies using PCCA oral bases in the FormulaPlus Master Formula List (PCCA Document #98004).
• For additional information on PCCA Bases, refer to Exclusive PCCA Bases (PCCA Document #99650).

PCCA members with Clinical Services access who have questions about compounding our formulas may contact our Clinical Services team at 800.331.2498.

A version of this article originally appeared in PCCA’s members-only magazine, the Apothagram.