Solid dispersions as strategy to improve oral bioavailability of poor water soluble drugs.

Salt formation to improve drug solubility.

Drugs with low water solubility are predisposed to low and variable oral bioavailability and, therefore, to variability in clinical response. Despite significant efforts to "design in" acceptable developability properties (including aqueous solubility) during lead optimization, approximately 40% of currently marketed compounds and most current drug development candidates remain poorly water-soluble. The fact that so many drug candidates of this type are advanced into development and clinical assessment is testament to an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the approaches that can be taken to promote apparent solubility in the gastrointestinal tract and to support drug exposure after oral administration. Here we provide a detailed commentary on the major challenges to the progression of a poorly water-soluble lead or development candidate and review the approaches and strategies that can be taken to facilitate compound progression. In particular, we address the fundamental principles that underpin the use of strategies, including pH adjustment and salt-form selection, polymorphs, cocrystals, cosolvents, surfactants, cyclodextrins, particle size reduction, amorphous solid dispersions, and lipid-based formulations. In each case, the theoretical basis for utility is described along with a detailed review of recent advances in the field. The article provides an integrated and contemporary discussion of current approaches to solubility and dissolution enhancement but has been deliberately structured as a series of stand-alone sections to allow also directed access to a specific technology (e.g., solid dispersions, lipid-based formulations, or salt forms) where required.

Strategies to Address Low Drug Solubility in Discovery and Development

The purpose of this review is to discuss and summarize some of the interesting findings and applications of cyclodextrins (CDs) and their derivatives in different areas of drug delivery, particularly in protein and peptide drug delivery and gene delivery. The article highlights important CD applications in the design of various novel delivery systems like liposomes, microspheres, microcapsules, and nanoparticles. In addition to their well-known effects on drug solubility and dissolution, bioavailability, safety, and stability, their use as excipients in drug formulation are also discussed in this article. The article also focuses on various factors influencing inclusion complex formation because an understanding of the same is necessary for proper handling of these versatile materials. Some important considerations in selecting CDs in drug formulation such as their commercial availability, regulatory status, and patent status are also summarized. CDs, because of their continuing ability to find several novel applications in drug delivery, are expected to solve many problems associated with the delivery of different novel drugs through different delivery routes.

Cyclodextrins in drug delivery: an updated review.

The current phase of drug development is witnessing an oncoming crisis due to the combined effects of increasing R&D costs, decreasing number of new drug molecules being launched, several blockbuster drugs falling off the patent cliff, and a high proportion of advanced drug candidates exhibiting poor aqueous solubility. The traditional approach of salt formulation to improve drug solubility is unsuccessful with molecules that lack ionizable functional groups, have sensitive moieties that are prone to decomposition/racemization, and/or are not sufficiently acidic/basic to enable salt formation. Several novel examples of pharmaceutical cocrystals from the past decade are reviewed, and the enhanced solubility profiles of cocrystals are analyzed. The peak dissolution for pharmaceutical cocrystals occurs in a short time (<30 min), and high solubility is maintained over a sufficiently long period (4–6 h) for the best cases. The enhanced solubility of drug cocrystals is similar to the supersaturation phenomenon ...

Cristina Cavallari

Papers

Preparation and characterisation of ibuprofen-poloxamer 188 granules obtained by melt granulation.

Description and preliminary evaluation of a new ultrasonic atomizer for spray-congealing processes.

Characterization of carbamazepine–Gelucire 50/13 microparticles prepared by a spray‐congealing process using ultrasounds

Characterization and taste-masking evaluation of acetaminophen granules: comparison between different preparation methods in a high-shear mixer.

Thermal and fractal analysis of diclofenac/Gelucire 50/13 microparticles obtained by ultrasound-assisted atomization.