Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 22, Issue 32, 2016

Understanding the properties, stability and transformations of the solid-state forms of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in the development pipeline is of crucial importance for process-development, formulation development and FDA approval. Investigation of the polymorphism and polymorphic stability is a routine part of the preformulation studies. Vibrational spectroscopy allows the real-time in situ monitoring of p Read More

The importance of using the Raman imaging technique is increasing in pharmaceutical sciences, particularly in the quality control of active pharmaceutical ingredients, formulation design, and manufacturing development. Formulation design based on Raman imaging data is important for achieving quality by design. Recently, several novel Raman imaging measurement and analytical techniques have been reported. It i Read More

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can exist in various types of crystalline forms including polymorphs and cocrystals. These multiple crystalline forms of APIs have district physical and physicochemical characteristics. Vibrational spectroscopic techniques used in solid-state pharmaceutical analysis include mid-infrared, Raman and terahertz spectroscopy. In this review, we will focus on the recent vibrational s Read More

A mixture of two enantiomers can crystallize according to three types of heterogeneous equilibria: a racemic compound (a 1:1 stoichiometric compound), a conglomerate (a physical mixture of particles with opposite chirality) or, more rarely, as a solid solution (a crystalline architecture exhibiting a lack of chiral discrimination with respect to the two enantiomers). Due to the scarce occurrence of solid solutions, only a fe Read More

Oral drug delivery remains the most physiological and therefore the most preferred, simplest and easiest administration route. Nevertheless, a multitude of potentially clinically important drugs will not reach the market or achieve their full potential unless their oral bioavailability is improved by formulation. The aim of this review is to present an overview of properties, formulation, excipients and characterization of solid dispe Read More

Drugs and excipients used for pharmaceutical applications generally exist in the solid (crystalline or amorphous) state, more rarely as liquid materials. In some cases, according to the physicochemical nature of the molecule, or as a consequence of specific technological processes, a compound may exist exclusively in the amorphous state. In other cases, as a consequence of specific treatments (freezing and spray dr Read More

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can exist in different polymorphic forms as well as in amorphous state. Polymorphic and amorphous forms of APIs can differ in physicochemical properties which in turn can significantly influence their therapeutic safety and effectiveness of the treatment. This review focuses on benefits and limitations of polymorphic and amorphous forms of APIs used in preformulation and formulation stu Read More

For the formation of a drug, a pharmacologically active compound must be prepared in a specific form. The drug must be manufactured, packaged, stored, transported, administred and delivered to a target in the body. To successfully prepare a drug form that will be robust through manufacturing, stable before administration and active with high bioavailability after administration, one needs to produce solid forms w Read More

Solid-state mechanochemical grinding is important for promoting cocrystal formation, particularly in the design of new solids in the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical cocrystals are defined as crystalline materials comprising an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and one or more appropriate coformers in a definite stoichiometric ratio, formed via non-covalent interactions. Recently, both the US FDA (2013) and the Read More

Stability of a dosage form is its ability to preserve its quality attributes within preset limits. The time span over which these attributes remain within specifications is the shelf-life of the drug product. Stability is a very complex feature and is influenced not only by the stability of the drug substance but also by the stability of excipients and the interaction of the components within the system. Another important contributing factor is t Read More

The antiepileptic activity of α-substituted acetamides, lactams, and cyclic imides has been known for over six decades. We recently proposed an α-substituted amide group as the minimum pharmacophore responsible for inhibition of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by these compounds, with the implication that inhibition of these receptors in the brain might be the unifying mechanism of action for these class Read More