Use of prediction methods to estimate true density of active pharmaceutical ingredients

True density is a fundamental and important property of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Using prediction methods to estimate the API true density can be very beneficial in pharmaceutical research and development, especially when experimental measurements cannot be made due to lack of material or sample handling restrictions. In this paper, two empirical prediction methods developed by Girolami and Immirzi and Perini were used to estimate the true density of APIs, and the estimation results were compared with experimentally measured values by helium pycnometry. The Girolami method is simple and can be used for both liquids and solids. For the tested APIs, the Girolami method had a maximum error of -12.7% and an average percent error of -3.0% with a 95% CI of (-3.8, -2.3%). The Immirzi and Perini method is more involved and is mainly used for solid crystals. In general, it gives better predictions than the Girolami method. For the tested APIs, the Immirzi and Perini method had a maximum error of 9.6% and an average percent error of 0.9% with a 95% CI of (0.3, 1.6%).