Formulation and characterization of curcumin loaded polymeric micelles produced via continuous processing

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Pharmaceutical Technology
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Polymeric micelles are crucial for improving the solubility and stability of hydrophobic drugs.
• Traditional batch methods for producing polymeric micelles often lack precise control over critical quality attributes.
• Continuous processing offers a potential solution for enhanced control and efficiency in nanoparticle production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and optimize a continuous processing platform for producing polymeric micelles.
• To precisely control physicochemical properties like particle size and polydispersity index (PDI).
• To maximize drug loading of hydrophobic drugs, using curcumin as a model.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a co-axial turbulent jet with co-flow continuous technology for micelle formation.
• Employed a 3x3x4 full factorial design of experiments (DoE) to optimize processing parameters.
• Incorporated curcumin as a model hydrophobic drug and conducted a second DoE for drug loading optimization.

Main Results:

• Achieved optimized curcumin-loaded polymeric micelles with an average size of 29.1 nm and PDI of 0.05.
• Reached a maximum drug loading of 11.1% (w/w), significantly higher than the 8.12% from manual methods.
• Demonstrated sustained drug release (50% in 12h) and improved stability after lyophilization.

Conclusions:

• The continuous processing platform offers superior control over polymeric micelle quality attributes compared to manual batch methods.
• This technology enhances processing efficiency and product quality for hydrophobic drug delivery systems.
• The optimized curcumin-loaded micelles show promise for improved therapeutic efficacy and stability.