Book Review: Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms: Tablets (Third Edition), Volume 3: Manufacture and Process Control Edited by Larry L. Augsburger and Stephen W. Hoag

As the editors indicate in the forward, this book is
intended to continue in the fine tradition of
Lieberman, Lachman, and Schwartz, editors of
previous editions of Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms: Tablets.
This edition expands upon the last edition, published in
1990, and devotes many pages to new technologies and
emerging trends in pharmaceutical development. The 311
pages comprise eleven chapters covering a broad range
of topics related to tablets: development, manufacture,
characterization, regulatory considerations, and intellectual
property. The authors of the chapters are well chosen
and are able to provide not only concise descriptions of
the current state of technology and modern practices but
also insight into emerging trends.
As the title of the book indicates, the text is primarily
about manufacture and process control of tablets, still
the most popular dosage form. However, some of the
chapters branch out into other areas. For example, the
dissolution and dissolution specifications chapters
discuss approaches for other dosage forms; the chapter
on intellectual property uses biologicals frequently in
examples. Some chapters are general enough to apply
to the development of any dosage form, such as the
discussion of the change in manufacturing paradigms in
Chapter 3 and cGMPs for the 21st century, covered in
Chapter 8. So, the reader will enjoy a good review of the
state of the art in the pharmaceutical industry that is
somewhat broader than the title might imply.