ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to compare two DSC-based methods to predict drug-polymer solubility (melting point depression method and recrystallization method) and propose a guideline for selecting the most suitable method based on physicochemical properties of both the drug and the polymer. Using the two methods, the solubilities of celecoxib, indomethacin, carbamazepine, and ritonavir in polyvinylpyrrolidone, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and Soluplus® were determined at elevated temperatures and extrapolated to room temperature using the Flory-Huggins model. For the melting point depression method, it was observed that a well-defined drug melting point was required in order to predict drug-polymer solubility, since the method is based on the depression of the melting point as a function of polymer content. In contrast to previous findings, it was possible to measure melting point depression up to 20⯰C below the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the polymer for some systems. Nevertheless, in general it was possible to obtain solubility measurements at lower temperatures using polymers with a low Tg. Finally, for the recrystallization method it was found that the experimental composition dependence of the Tg must be differentiable for compositions ranging from 50 to 90% drug (w/w) so that one Tg corresponds to only one composition. Based on these findings, a guideline for selecting the most suitable thermal method to predict drug-polymer solubility based on the physicochemical properties of the drug and polymer is suggested in the form of a decision tree.
Subject(s)
Calorimetry, Differential Scanning , Drug Carriers , Pharmaceutical Preparations/chemistry , Polymers/chemistry , Technology, Pharmaceutical/methods , Carbamazepine/chemistry , Celecoxib/chemistry , Crystallization , Decision Trees , Drug Compounding , Drug Liberation , Hypromellose Derivatives/chemistry , Indomethacin/chemistry , Models, Chemical , Polyethylene Glycols/chemistry , Polyvinyls/chemistry , Povidone/chemistry , Ritonavir/chemistry , Solubility , Transition TemperatureABSTRACT
The established methods to predict drug-polymer solubility at room temperature either rely on extrapolation over a long temperature range or are limited by the availability of a liquid analogue of the polymer. To overcome these issues, this work investigated a new methodology where the drug-polymer solubility is estimated from the solubility of the drug in a solution of the polymer at room temperature using the shake-flask method. Thus, the new polymer in solution method does not rely on temperature extrapolations and only requires the polymer and a solvent, in which the polymer is soluble, that does not affect the molecular structure of the drug and polymer relative to that in the solid state. Consequently, as this method has the potential to provide fast and precise estimates of drug-polymer solubility at room temperature, we encourage the scientific community to further investigate this principle both fundamentally and practically.
Subject(s)
Drug Stability , Pharmaceutical Preparations/chemistry , Polymers/chemistry , Acetaminophen/chemistry , Celecoxib/chemistry , Chemistry, Pharmaceutical , Chloramphenicol/chemistry , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Solubility , Solutions , Transition TemperatureABSTRACT
In this study, the influence of copolymer composition on drug-polymer solubility was investigated. The solubility of the model drug celecoxib (CCX) in various polyvinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate (PVP/VA) copolymer compositions (70/30, 60/40, 50/50 and 30/70 w/w) and the pure homopolymers polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) was predicted at 25 °C using a thermal analysis method based on the recrystallization of a supersaturated amorphous dispersion (recrystallization method). These solubilities were compared with a prediction based on the solubility of CCX in the liquid monomeric precursors of PVP/VA, N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) and vinyl acetate (VA), using the Flory-Huggins lattice theory (liquid monomer solubility approach). The solubilities predicted from the liquid monomer solubility approach increased linearly with increasing VP/VA ratio from 0.03-0.60 w/w. Even though the solubilities predicted from the recrystallization method also increased with increasing VP/VA ratio from 0.02-0.40 w/w, the predicted solubility seemed to approach a plateau at high VP/VA ratios. Increasing positive deviations from the Gordon-Taylor equation with increasing VP/VA ratio indicated strong interactions between CCX and the VP repeat unit, which was in accordance with the relatively high solubilities predicted using both methods. As the solubility plateau may be a consequence of steric hindrance caused by the size differences between CCX and the VP repeat units, it is likely that a CCX molecule interacting with a VP repeat unit hinders another CCX molecule from binding to the neighboring repeat units in the polymer chain. Therefore, it is possible that replacing these neighboring hygroscopic VP repeat units with hydrophobic VA repeat units, could increase the physical stability of an amorphous solid dispersion without compromising the drug-polymer solubility. This knowledge could be used advantageously in future development of amorphous drug delivery systems as copolymers could be customized to provide optimal drug-polymer solubility and physical stability.
