Gummy is a Perfect Delivery Formulation for Nutraceuticals

Seattle Gummy Company (SGC) specializes in formulating gummy nutraceuticals. Gummy is recognized as a broad category of gelatin or pectin-based, chewable sweets that are popular among children and adults alike. You may ask — “why formulating nutraceuticals in a gummy candy?” Fortunately for us, in addition to being delicious, gummy is an extremely effective formulation for delivering bioactives into the blood stream allowing quick absorption and fast action onto the human body.

Pharmaceutical scientists have developed common mechanisms for delivery drugs into human body. Routes of administration are generally classified by the location at which the substance is applied. Common routes of pharmaceutical administration include oral/gastric (through mouth to GI track), topical (skin), transmucosal/sublingual, inhalation, and injection (intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous).  Among these, oral transmucosal absorption is one of the fastest routes because of the rich vascular supply to the mucosa and the lack of a stratum corneum epidermidis. The minimal barrier in oral mucosal membrane results in a rapid rise of bioactives in blood concentrations.

For example, the oral transmucosal route has been used for many years to provide rapid blood nitrate levels for treating heart attack. The drug, nitroglycerine, appears in blood within 1 minute, and peak blood levels of most medications are achieved generally within 10 to 15 minutes, which is substantially faster than when the same drug is administered by the oral/gastric route.¹

Another example is the fentanyl Orale, an opioid formulation designed for children through transmucosal administration.^2-7 One advantage is that the sustained therapeutic blood levels of the drug offers pain control for hours. This contrasts with the extremely short duration of analgesia (minutes) with single low doses of intravenous fentanyl. In addition, oral transmucosal administration of the drug avoids the enterohepatic circulation and immediate destruction of the drug by gastric acid or partial first-pass effects of hepatic metabolism, therefore allowing bioactive compound to stay active in the system.

The bioactive must have a prolonged exposure to the mucosal surface in order for significant absorption to occur across the oral mucosa. The chewing, controlled softening and melting of the gummy formulation through SGC’s proprietary formulation process not only provide sufficient exposure time to the mucosal surface but also provide the movements maximizing the surface exposure and distribution of the bioactive over the mucosal membrane therefore further facilitating the absorption.

In summary, delivering nutraceuticals in gummy formulation allows the fast absorption, sustained blood level, and avoidance of the destruction of the bioactive compound. The gummy allows the bioactive compound to quickly access the blood stream and deliver the health benefits. By tapping into the knowledge and experiences from the pharmaceutical industry, SGC scientists have created an effective nutraceutical delivery solution in SGC’s delicious gummy products.

Thanks for reading!

Dr. Connie Wan

Scientific References:

1. Administration of drugs by the buccal route (1987) Lancet. 1:666–667.
2. Oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate premedication in children (1989) Anesth Analg. 69:28–34.
3. Oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate for premedication in paediatric outpatients (1990) Can J Anaesth. 37:857–866.
4. Comparison of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate and an oral solution of meperidine, diazepam and atropine for premedication in children (1989) Anesthesiology. 70:616–621.
5. Oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (lollipop) premedication in human volunteers (1989) Anesth Analg. 69:21–27.
6. Absorption and bioavailability of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (1991) Anesthesiology. 75:223–229.
7. Preanesthetic medication in children: A comparison of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate versus placebo (1989) Anesthesiology. 71:374–377.

About SGC:SGC is an R&D focused developer of nutraceutical and pharmaceutical gummy products. The company specializes in formulating Functional Gummy® products combining the wealth of the in-house knowledge in pharmaceutics, chemistry, western medicine and herbal medicine. The company provides performance gummies® inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine including MOCCA SHOTS™, ENERGON QUBE™, FUNTIONAL FRUIT®, and SEATTLE BEAUTY®.

To learn more, visit https://seattlegummy.com, contactinfo@seattlegummy.com,call 206-257-0464, or join at https://seattlegummy.com/be-an-informed-member/.