Impregnation of Fenofibrate on mesoporous silica using supercritical carbon dioxide

Low oral bioavailability can be circumvented by the formulation of the poorly water soluble drug in ordered mesoporous silica (OMS-L-7). Fenofibrate is an orally administered, poorly water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), used clinically to lower lipid levels. Fenofibrate was loaded into silica using two methods: incipient wetness and supercritical impregnation. This study investigates the impact of loading and the impact of varying supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) processing conditions. The objective is to enhance Fenofibrate loading into silica while reducing degree of the drug crystallinity, so as to increase the drug's dissolution rate and its bioavailability. The comparison of both impregnation processes was made in terms of impregnation yields and duration as well as physical characterization of the drug. While incipient wetness method led to a Fenofibrate loading up to 300 mgdrug/gsilica in 48 h of impregnation, the supercritical impregnation method yielded loading up to 485 mgdrug/gsilica in 120 min of impregnation duration, at 16 MPa and 308 K, with a low degree of crystallinity (about 1%) comparable to the crystallinity observed via the solvent method. In addition to the enhancement of impregnation efficiency, the supercritical route provides a solvent-free alternative for impregnation.