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Updated: Apr 14, 2026

Solubility of Hydrophobic Compounds in Aqueous Solution Using Combinations of Self-assembling Peptide and Amino Acid
Published on: September 20, 2017
Low solubility in drug development: de-convoluting the relative importance of solvation and crystal packing
Robert Docherty1, Klimentina Pencheva1, Yuriy A Abramov1
1Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pfizer Global R&D, Sandwich, Kent, UK.
Objectives:
An increasing trend towards low solubility is a major issue for drug development as formulation of low solubility compounds can be problematic. This paper presents a model which de-convolutes the solubility of pharmaceutical compounds into solvation and packing properties with the intention to understand the solubility limiting features.
Methods:
The Cambridge Crystallographic Database was the source of structural information. Lattice energies were calculated via force-field based approaches using Materials Studio. The solvation energies were calculated applying quantum chemistry models using Cosmotherm software.
Key Findings:
The solubilities of 54 drug-like compounds were mapped onto a solvation energy/crystal packing grid. Four quadrants were identified were different balances of solvation and packing were defining the solubility. A version of the model was developed which allows for the calculation of the two features even in absence of crystal structure.
Conclusion:
Although there are significant number of in-silico models, it has been proven very difficult to predict aqueous solubility accurately. Therefore, we have taken a different approach where the solubility is not predicted directly but is de-convoluted into two constituent features.
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