Pharmaceutical Co-Crystals - Design, Development and Applications

Background: Solubility and dissolution profile are the major factors which directly affect the biological activity of a drug and these factors are governed by the physicochemical properties of the drug. Crystal engineering is a newer and promising approach to improve physicochemical characteristics of a drug without any change in its pharmacological action through a selection of a wide range of easily available crystal formers. Objective: The goal of this review is to summarize the importance of crystal engineering in improving the physicochemical properties of a drug, methods of design, development, and applications of cocrystals along with future trends in research of pharmaceutical co-crystals. Co-crystallization can also be carried out for the molecules which lack ionizable functional groups, unlike salts which require ionizable groups. Conclusion: Co-crystals is an interesting and promising research area amongst pharmaceutical scientists to fine-tune the physicochemical properties of drug materials. Co-crystallization can be a tool to increase the lifecycle of an older drug molecule. Crystal engineering carries the potential of being an advantageous technique than any other approach used in the pharmaceutical industry. Crystal engineering offers a plethora of biopharmaceutical and physicochemical enhancements to a drug molecule without the need of any pharmacological change in the drug.