In vitro biphasic dissolution tests and their suitability for establishing in vitro-in vivo correlations: A historical review.

For many decades, one of the most critical issues in the pharmaceutical industry has been the poor solubility of some drugs. Indeed, a prerequisite for drug absorption is the presence of dissolved drug at the absorption site and this can be challenging for compounds with low aqueous solubility such as BCS class II (low solubility, high permeability) and IV (low solubility, low permeability) compounds. If the development of oral delivery formulations of these compounds is frequently challenging to formulation scientists in the pharmaceutical industry, the in vitro evaluation of these new formulations is also a great challenge. One alternative approach to overcome the problems encountered with conventional dissolution methods is the use of biphasic dissolution systems. This review provides an overview of the origin and the evolution over time of the biphasic systems and the growing interest among scientists regarding their suitability for establishing in vitro-in vivo correlations. The evolution of these systems and their applications from the 1960s to the present day, such as in system variants and improvements, analysis of complex formulations, discriminatory power, bio-relevance, precipitation and supersaturation visualization, etc. will be discussed.

Selection of a discriminant and biorelevant in vitro dissolution test for the development of fenofibrate self-emulsifying lipid-based formulations.

Fenofibrate, a BCS class II compound, has a low bioavailability especially when taken orally on an empty stomach. The challenge to find a new formulation for providing bioavailability, independent of food, is still ongoing. If the development of a suitable oral delivery formulation of BCS class II compounds is a frequent and great challenge to formulation scientists, the in vitro evaluation of these new formulations is also a great challenge. The purpose of this study was therefore to select an in vitro dissolution test that would be useful and as biorelevant as possible for the development of fenofibrate self-emulsifying lipid-based formulations. In this context, three different fenofibrate formulations, for which in vivo data are available in the literature, were tested using different dissolution tests until we found the one that was the most suitable. As part of this approach, we started with the simplest in vitro dissolution tests and progressed to tests that were increasingly more complex. The first tests were different single phase dissolution tests: a test under sink conditions based on the USP monograph, and different tests under non-sink conditions in non-biorelevant and biorelevant media. Given the inconclusive results obtained with these tests, biphasic dissolution systems were then tested: one with USP apparatus type II alone and another which combined USP apparatus types II and IV. This last combined test seemed the most suitable in vitro dissolution test for the development of the future fenofibrate lipid-based formulations we intend to develop in our own laboratory.

Investigation of a suitable in vitro dissolution test for itraconazole-based solid dispersions.

The difficulty to find a relevant in vitro dissolution test to evaluate poorly soluble drugs is a well-known issue. One way to enhance their aqueous solubility is to formulate them as amorphous solid dispersions. In this study, three formulations containing itraconazole (ITZ), a model drug, were tested in seven different conditions (different USP apparatuses and different media). Two of the formulations were amorphous solid dispersions namely Sporanox®, the marketed product, and extrudates composed of Soluplus® and ITZ produced by hot melt extrusion; and the last one was pure crystalline ITZ capsules. After each test, a ranking of the formulations was established. Surprisingly, the two amorphous solid dispersions exhibited very different behavior depending primarily on the dissolution media. Indeed, the extrudates showed a better release profile than Sporanox® in non-sink and in biphasic conditions, whilst Sporanox® showed a higher release profile than the extrudates in sink and fasted simulated gastric conditions. The disintegration, dynamic light scattering and nuclear magnetic resonance results highlighted the presence of interaction between the surfactants and Soluplus®, which slowed down the erosion of the polymer matrix. Indeed, the negative charge of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and bile salts interacted with the surface of the extrudates that formed a barrier through which the water hardly diffused. Moreover, Soluplus® and SDS formed mixed micelles in solution in which ITZ interacts with SDS, but no longer with Soluplus®. Regarding the biphasic dissolution test, the interactions between the octanol dissolved in the aqueous media disrupted the polymer--ITZ system leading to a reduced release of ITZ from Sporanox®, whilst it had no influence on the extrudates. All together these results pointed out the difficulty of finding a suitable in vitro dissolution test due to interactions between the excipients that complicates the prediction of the behavior of these solid dispersions in vivo.

Optimization of a PGSS (particles from gas saturated solutions) process for a fenofibrate lipid-based solid dispersion formulation.

The aim of this study was to develop a formulation containing fenofibrate and Gelucire(®) 50/13 (Gattefossé, France) in order to improve the oral bioavailability of the drug. Particles from gas saturated solutions (PGSS) process was chosen for investigation as a manufacturing process for producing a solid dispersion. The PGSS process was optimized according to the in vitro drug dissolution profile obtained using a biphasic dissolution test. Using a design of experiments approach, the effects of nine experimental parameters were investigated using a PGSS apparatus provided by Separex(®) (Champigneulles, France). Within the chosen experimental conditions, the screening results showed that the drug loading level, the autoclave temperature and pressure, the connection temperature and the nozzle diameter had a significant influence on the dissolution profile of fenofibrate. During the optimization step, the three most relevant parameters were optimized using a central composite design, while other factors remained fixed. In this way, we were able to identify the optimal production conditions that would deliver the highest level of fenofibrate in the organic phase at the end of the dissolution test. The closeness between the measured and the predicted optimal dissolution profiles in the organic phase demonstrated the validity of the statistical analyses.

Towards a real time release approach for manufacturing tablets using NIR spectroscopy.

The aim of this study was to use the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a process analytical tool to evaluate the conformity of paracetamol tablets in terms of four Pharmacopoeia tests (content uniformity, hardness, disintegration time, friability) and to control in-line blend uniformity. Tablets were manufactured by direct compression. Three different active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) concentrations were manufactured and three different compaction pressures were used. Intact tablets were analysed by transmission mode with NIRS prior to European Pharmacopoeia tests that were used as reference methods. Partial least square (PLS) regression was selected to build the prediction NIR models for content uniformity, tablet hardness and disintegration time. The prediction of NIR content uniformity and tablet hardness methods were validated using the accuracy profile approach. The values of the root mean squared error of calibration (RMSEC) and the root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP) for the disintegration time indicated the robustness and the global accuracy of the NIR model. Regarding the tablet friability test, the classification was based on K-nearest neighbours (KNN). Then tablet NIR analyses successfully allowed the prediction of their conformity. Compared to the time consuming Pharmacopoeia reference methods, the benefit of this nondestructive method is significant, especially for reducing batch release time.

PAT tools for the control of co-extrusion implants manufacturing process.

Hot melt extrusion is a novel pharmaceutical manufacturing process technique. In this study, we identified four Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs) of the implant manufacturing process by hot melt extrusion: the implant diameter, the quantity of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), the homogeneity distribution of API and the thickness of the membrane. We controlled the implant diameter and the quantity of API in-line with a laser measurement, NIR and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. These two different spectroscopic techniques provided comparable results. In fact, the RMSEC and RMSECV were very close in each PAT technique but NIR spectroscopy was easier to use and less sensitive to external changes. For the control of the homogeneity of API distribution and the thickness of the membrane, we used successfully Raman spectroscopy imaging. These PAT tools help reducing analysis time.