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Formulation of Nurofen products

A tablet or caplet of Nurofen contains much more than just ibuprofen, the active ingredient.

The dose of ibuprofen contained in a normal strength tablet is 200 mg (0.2 g), Figure 14.

figure14

Figure 14: Normal strength Nurofen tablets

This is a very small amount and would be difficult to handle and pick up conveniently. So for this reason a tablet needs extra ingredients to bulk it out to make it easy to take. Other ingredients help the tablet to break up, or disintegrate, after being taken. They do this by absorbing water and swelling. Further ingredients help to hold the tablet together and yet others help the tablet to slide easily through the machines that make them.

Ibuprofen tablets consist of a core and a coat. The coat contains sugar for taste and a pigment to give the tablet an acceptable colour. A whole tablet weighs approximately 1000 mg (1 g).

The science of blending these ingredients is called formulation. Table 1 gives some idea of the variety of ingredients, their function and their location in the tablet.

Component Function Location
Ibuprofen Active ingredient Core
Croscarmellose sodium Disintegrant Core
Sodium laurylsulfate Lubricant Core
Sodium citrate Buffering agent Core
Stearic acid Lubricant Core
Colloidal anhydrous silica Anticaking agent Core
Carmellose sodium Coating agent Coat
Calcium sulfate dihydrate Diluent Coat
Acacia spray dried Binding agent Coat
Sucrose Binding agent Coat
Titanium dioxide Pigment Coat
Carnuba wax powder Coating ageny Coat
Purified water Diluent Coat

Table 1: Ingredients of Nurofen 200 mg tablets