Abstract

APPROACHES TO IMPROVE SOLUBILITY OF POORLY WATER SOLUBLE DRUGS

Sweta Savla*, Ankita Surjusee, Vishal Rokade, Sneha Sawant and Pramod Kadu

ABSTRACT

Solubility is the phenomenon of dissolution of solid in liquid phase to give a homogenous system. Amongst the newly discovered chemical entities nearly 40% drugs are poorly water soluble. Poorly water soluble drugs often require high doses in order to reach therapeutic plasma concentrations after oral administration. Orally administered drugs completely absorb only when they show fair solubility in gastric medium and such drugs show good bioavailability. The solubility and dissolution properties of drugs play an important role in the process of formulation development. Problem of solubility is a major challenge for formulation scientist which can be solved by different technological approaches during the pharmaceutical product development work. Various techniques used for solubility enhancement of poorly water soluble drugs include solid dispersion, particle size reduction, hydrotrophy, complexation etc. The present review describes important techniques for enhancing drug solubility to reduce the percentage of poorly soluble drug candidates eliminated from further formulation development.

Keywords: Solubility, dissolution rate, solubility enhancement, solid dispersion.