Development and Evaluation of _Ginkgo biloba_ L. Extract Loaded into Carboxymethyl Cellulose Sublingual Films [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], L. Development and Evaluation of _Ginkgo biloba_ L. Extract Loaded into Carboxymethyl Cellulose Sublingual Films _Applid_  
[PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], L. Development and Evaluation of _Ginkgo biloba_ L. Extract Loaded into Carboxymethyl Cellulose Sublingual Films _Applid_  
[PERSON], [PERSON]. There are several routes of drug administration--oral or enteral, parenteral (injections, inhalation, transdermal, transmucosal) and topical. The most common is the oral route, but there are disadvantages, such as long onset time, lower bioavailability, dysphagia and even difficulties with precise dosing [15]. Sublingual films as a drug dosage form have been on the market for a while, yet it has not been tried as a _G. biloba_ extract delivery system. Oromucosal films can be categorized into mucoadhesive buccal films (MBF's), orodispersible films (ODF's) and oromucosal patches (ORP's), which depends on their residence time in the mouth and disintegration [16]. Sublingual or orodispersible films are a dosage form that consists of a very thin oral strip, which should be placed on the tongue or beneath it and dissolves in less than a minute [17]. Such an administration method of _G. biloba_ should bring many possible advantages--higher bioavailability, because of the possibility to prevent drug instability in the gastrointestinal tract, more precise dosing comparing to liquid forms, short onset time, fewer cases of mouth discomfort--especially in pediatric cases, lesser possibility of drug interactions, when multiple medications are used at the same time, because these drugs could be administered through separate routes [18; 19; 20]. There are several manufacturing methods of oral films, such as rolling, solid dispersion extrusion, hot melt extrusion, semisolid casting and solvent casting method [21]. The hot melt extrusion method and solvent casting method are the most commonly used methods of film manufacturing. The hot melt extrusion method is more often used to manufacture transdermal and transmucosal drug delivery systems, granules and sustained release tablets [22]. The solvent casting method was used in this study due to its simple preparation method and it is suitable for the hydrophobic active ingredient incorporation into the hydrophilic carriers. The constituent polymers of sublingual films are chosen based on the desired physicochemical properties of the product [23]. Moreover, polymer employed should be non-toxic, non-irrittant and devoid of leachable impurities. It also should have good wetting and spreadability properties [23]. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is a cellulose derivative produced by the reaction of cellulose with sodium monochoracetate. CMC is one of the commonly used polymers for preparation of sublingual films. It can produce films with excellent clarity and with the ability to carry a wide range of active ingredients, which has been proven to be useful in the preparation optimal polymeric matrices [24]. Considering the studies related to development of sublingual films as a carrier for freeze-dried _G. biloba_ extract (GFD), the main purpose of this study was to exploit and optimize the amount of GFD in CMC-based sublingual films. Composition optimization of a drug carrier was performed in order to produce a positive impact on the desirable features of a drug formulation, such as more rapid drug release, higher release yields and improvement of drug stability. The sublingual region offers fast onset of action along with high bioavailability, which are desirable drug features for patients. Rapid onset of action and bioavailability of GFD sublingual films were also investigated for the first time. As was mentioned before, for this purpose, CMC was chosen as the film forming polymer and glycerol was selected as a plasticizer.