ABSTRACT
Current work investigates a typical issue in formulating a physically stable solution especially when more than one counter ions exist in the composition. The impact of different counter ions on solubilization of monohydrate esylate salt of a free base GSK-497,[BH+:C2H5SO3-:H2O] (1:1) (pKa value 8.0) was investigated to formulate ready to use small volume injectable solution. The concentration dependent aggregation was also appeared to be responsible for hemolytic nature of the drug, therefore a careful investigation was needed to select appropriate counter ion solution without compromising solubilization and leading into higher order aggregation. The esylate salt's native pH in water was closer to pHmax, thus it was risky to render the solution unbuffered. Generally, it is recommended to formulate at least two pH unit away from pHmax to prevent disproportionation related physical instability. This was achieved by buffering solution away from pHmax, using a lactate counter ion (other than esylate salt of API salt) that did not compromise solubility of the given phase and did not appear to promote higher order of aggregation. The rationale for selecting second counter ion was primarily based on the comparison of esylate salt's solubility product (Ksp), with the Ksp value generated from equilibrium solubility of the free base combined with several different counter ions (chloride, lactate, aspartate, citrate and tartrate) at equimolar molar ratio. This approach suggested that the use of a counter ion with higher Ksp (lactate and aspartate) value did not compromise the solubility of original esylate salt but a higher extent of aggregation was possible if aspartate is used to achieve higher solubility. In contrary, use of a counter ion with lower Ksp (citrate, tartrate, chloride) reduced the solubility hence did not favor higher order of aggregation. Thus, based on Ksp comparison a rationale of selecting second counter ion to buffer the salt solution is discussed in this work and optimal formulation concentration is determined based on drug aggregation threshold in solution.
