Production of cocrystals in an excipient matrix by spray drying

Publication date: 30 January 2018 Source:International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Volume 536, Issue 1 Author(s): David Walsh, Dolores R. Serrano, Zelalem Ayenew Worku, Brid A. Norris, Anne Marie Healy Spray drying is a well-established scale-up technique for the production of cocrystals. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effect of introducing a third component into the feed solution during the spray drying process has never been investigated. Cocrystal formation in the presence of a third component by a one-step spray drying process has the potential to reduce the number of unit operations which are required to produce a final pharmaceutical product (e.g. by eliminating blending with excipient). Sulfadimidine (SDM), a poorly water soluble active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), and 4-aminosalicylic acid (4ASA), a hydrophilic molecule, were used as model drug and coformer respectively to form cocrystals by spray drying in the presence of a third component (excipient). The solubility of the cocrystal in the excipient was measured using a thermal analysis approach. Trends in measured solubility were in agreement with those determined by calculated Hansen Solubility Parameter (HSP) values. The ratio of cocrystal components to excipient was altered and cocrystal formation at different weight ratios was assessed. Cocrystal integrity was preserved when the cocrystal components were immiscible with the excipient, based on the difference in Hansen Solubility Parameters ...
Source: International Journal of Pharmaceutics - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research