Analytical and Computational Methods for the Determination of Drug-Polymer Solubility and Miscibility

Samarth D. Thakore, Junia Akhtar, Ranjna Jain, Amrit Paudel, Arvind K. Bansal*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

In the pharmaceutical industry, poorly water-soluble drugs require enabling technologies to increase apparent solubility in the biological environment. Amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) has emerged as an attractive strategy that has been used to market more than 20 oral pharmaceutical products. The amorphous form is inherently unstable and exhibits phase separation and crystallization during shelf life storage. Polymers stabilize the amorphous drug by antiplasticization, reducing molecular mobility, reducing chemical potential of drug, and increasing glass transition temperature in ASD. Here, drug-polymer miscibility is an important contributor to the physical stability of ASDs. The current Review discusses the basics of drug-polymer interactions with the major focus on the methods for the evaluation of solubility and miscibility of the drug in the polymer. Methods for the evaluation of drug-polymer solubility and miscibility have been classified as thermal, spectroscopic, microscopic, solid-liquid equilibrium-based, rheological, and computational methods. Thermal methods have been commonly used to determine the solubility of the drug in the polymer, while other methods provide qualitative information about drug-polymer miscibility. Despite advancements, the majority of these methods are still inadequate to provide the value of drug-polymer miscibility at room temperature. There is still a need for methods that can accurately determine drug-polymer miscibility at pharmaceutically relevant temperatures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2835-2866
Number of pages32
JournalMolecular Pharmaceutics
Volume18
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Aug 2021

Keywords

  • amorphous
  • amorphous solid dispersion
  • drug development
  • drug-polymer miscibility
  • drug-polymer solubility
  • thermodynamic models

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Pharmaceutical Science
  • Drug Discovery

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