By Fabiana Banov, RPh, MS, PCCA Senior Formulation Pharmacist

Summer is a time when we like to use different products. Popsicles, for instance, are the perfect treat for the warm months of the year. Fortunately, compounders have some unique dosage forms that are far from conventional medication options. We at PCCA have created some specific, tailored options with your patients in mind. In this article, I will highlight some of these options, including two dosage forms that will help you to increase your portfolio of suggestions for your doctors and patients. I will also list my top three recommended flavors for each dosage form. These offer a great starting point for what to choose to fit your patients’ needs and acceptability, and will hopefully help with patient compliance.

Compounded Lollipops

Compounded lollipops are a colorful and a fun way to take medicine, and they’re great suggestions for kids and also adults. They are often prescribed as an anti-nausea medication, anesthetic or vitamin supplement, but can meet many other needs. For this dosage form, we offer our PCCA Sorbitol Lollipop^™ base. This base works perfectly with oil- and water-soluble flavors. The addition of one flavor is standard practice, but mixing two or three different flavors in this dosage form will provide a new adventure for the taste buds and a surprising sensation for the patient. My top three flavors are:

Compounded Popsicles

Popsicles are the face of the summer. Hot weather calls for a cool treat, and why not make this as a medicine? Compounders always bring creativity everywhere, and PCCA is here to provide what you need to help your patients. Below are our popsicle formulas available for PCCA members with Clinical Services access.

PCCA Formula #11364 is our newest popsicle formula and uses PCCA’s mucoadhesive base MucoLox. We call these “Mucopops.” It creates a final preparation that not only brings pleasant coldness for a hot season, but it also coats the taste buds, making it a great choice for the unpleasant taste of some active ingredients. My top three flavors to use in this dosage form are:

The concentrations of flavors to add in the popsicle formulas depend on the active ingredients. They can be between 0.5% and 3%. Oil- and water-soluble flavors can be added to the Mucopop formula, since MucoLox contains surfactants that will aid incorporation of oil-soluble flavors. If you choose a regular water-based popsicle formula and need to use an oil-soluble flavor, it will be necessary to mix polysorbate 20 and the flavor together in equal amounts (1:1 ratio) before adding them to the formula. Water-soluble flavors are ideal in this case.

The top flavors listed in this article are my suggestion of a starting point in how to flavor these unique dosage forms, but you can use other flavors. PCCA carries a variety that can be a great choice for your compounded medication. We love being a part of your summer and helping you to make medicine fun for your patients and prescribers. PCCA members with Clinical Services access can contact our team of clinical compounding pharmacists with any flavor questions at 800.331.2498.
 

Fabiana Banov, RPh, MS, PCCA Senior Formulation Pharmacist and flavors expert, earned her pharmacy degree from the College of Pharmaceutical Science of the University of Mogi das Cruzes in Brazil. She also obtained specialization in cosmetic science from São Paulo State University and completed post-graduate work in the technology of cosmetic products from Osvaldo Cruz College. Prior to joining the PCCA team, Fabiana was the owner of Fórmula Médica Compounding Pharmacy in São Paulo, where she was instrumental in the development of unique cosmetic products. She is also the author of Pharmaceutical Veterinary Formulary.

This article originally appeared in PCCA’s members-only magazine, the Apothagram.