Microencapsulation of erythromycin and clarithromycin using a spray-drying technique

Previous methods of microencapsulation are unable to process particles smaller than 100 microm without organic solvents or the use of multistep processes. The present study investigates the feasiblity of a one-step spray-drying process to microencapsulate erythromycin and clarithromycin, antibiotics known to have an unpleasant, bitter taste. Mixtures of clarithromycin (5% by weight) or erythromycin (30% by weight) with a biodegradable polymer were prepared and spray-dried under specific conditions of temperature and turbine speed. This process resulted in the microencapsulation of 80% of each drug as determined by high pressure liquid chromatography. Particle size ranged from 1 to 80 microm as determined by electron microscopy. These data show that microencapsulation of macrolides using a spray-drying technique is feasible. Spray-drying microencapsulation might be useful in the formulation of palatable oral suspensions of bitter tasting drugs.