Preparation of slab-shaped lactose carrier particles for dry powder inhalers by air jet milling

Dry powder inhalers are often formulated by attaching micronized drug particles onto carrier particles, which are generally lactose. In this study, commercially available lactose was air jet milled to produce unique slab-like coarse carrier particles, which have larger and rougher surfaces compared to other commercially available lactose. Two key processing factors, i.e., classifier speed and jet milling pressure, were systematically investigated. The largest fraction of slab-like particles in the resulting powder was obtained at a classifier speed of 3000 rpm. The slab-like coarse carrier particles are expected to exhibit superior performance than commercial lactose due to their unique surface properties.