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Published on: September 20, 2017
Novel Strategies for the Formulation of Poorly Water-Soluble Drug Substances by Different Physical Modification
Julian Quodbach1, Eduard Preis2, Frank Karkossa3
1Division of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3484 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The number of newly developed substances with poor water solubility continually increases. Therefore, specialized formulation strategies are required to overcome the low bioavailability often associated with this property. This review provides an overview of novel physical modification strategies discussed in the literature over the past decades and focuses on oral dosage forms. A distinction is made between 'brick-dust' molecules, which are characterized by high melting points due to the solid-state properties of the substances, and 'grease-ball' molecules with high lipophilicity. In general, the discussed strategies are divided into the following three main categories: drug nanoparticles, solid dispersions, and lipid-based formulations.
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