High-throughput study of poly(ethylene glycol)/ibuprofen formulations under controlled environment using FTIR imaging

Simultaneous analysis of many samples under identical conditions improves the effectiveness of research and accelerates product design. A novel spectroscopic imaging approach using a multichannel detector has been developed for parallel analysis of pharmaceutical formulations under controlled environments. Samples of formulations of ibuprofen in poly(ethylene glycol) have been prepared with ibuprofen concentrations ranging from 0 to 100% using a microdroplet deposition approach. The concentration of ibuprofen in PEG at which dimerization of ibuprofen molecules can be avoided has been determined via simultaneous measurement of all samples using in situ FTIR spectroscopic imaging. FTIR spectra from all samples have been analyzed to assess the molecular state of the drug and the degree of polymer swelling as a function of drug concentration. The effect of elevated temperature on the stability of all formulations was also studied. This high-throughput approach identified the concentration range for stable formulations and provided evidence that hydrogen bonding between ibuprofen and the polymer is responsible for enhanced stability at higher temperatures. This high-throughput imaging approach, based on a miniature sampling system, significantly reduces the experimental time by allowing many (potentially a few thousand) experiments to be run in parallel and increases the accuracy by minimizing variations between experiments.