Exploring impact of supersaturated lipid-based drug delivery systems of celecoxib on in vitro permeation across PermeapadⓇ membrane and in vivo absorption

Influence of polymer and surfactant-based precipitation inhibitors on supersaturation-driven absorption of Ibrutinib from high-dose lipid-based formulations

There is a growing pharmaceutical interest in supersaturated lipid-based formulations (Super-LbF) as an innovative strategy to enhance drug loading capacities while simultaneously reducing pill burden. This approach involves increasing the drug concentration above its equilibrium solubility in a lipid solution, achieved through temperature-induced supersaturation or the dissolution of lipophilic ionic salts. However, the physical instability and potential drug precipitation upon the dispersion of LbF remain critical. The focus of this work was to assess the impact of polymer and surfactant as precipitation inhibitors (PIs) in Super-LbF and investigate whether PIs can effectively address the aforementioned challenges. Ibrutinib (Ibr) was selected as a model drug due to its limited solubility and dissolution characteristics. The optimized formulations were characterized with a focus on dispersibility, lipolysis-permeation, and physical stability during storage. The inclusion of PIs in Super-LbF significantly enhanced physical stability by increasing viscosity and reducing the degree of supersaturation through elevated equilibrium solubility. During the dispersion and digestion study, varying levels of transient supersaturation were observed for both Super-LbF and PI-loaded Super-LbF. A noteworthy 2.5 to 3-fold increase in the solubilization ratio was observed for PI-loaded Super-LbF in comparison to Super-LbF without PI. This increase indicates a significant rise in transient drug supersaturation through kinetic and thermodynamic precipitation inhibition mechanisms. Moreover, lipolysis-permeation studies revealed increased flux values with enhanced solubilization, except in the case of Pluronic® F68, which exhibited a reduced free drug concentration near the Permeapad® barrier. Further, the in vivo absorption study confirmed that prolonged supersaturation, facilitated by PIs, contributed to enhancement in drug exposure in rats. PI-loaded Super-LbFs demonstrated a significant improvement (5.1 to 8.9-fold) in the absorption profile compared to Super-LbF without PI (p < 0.001). The study results indicate that incorporating PIs into Super-LbF enhances physical stability and maintains transient drug supersaturation under digestive conditions. Overall, this formulation approach shows promise for expanding the application of LbF to enable the successful oral delivery of high-dose regimen drugs.

Ex vivo permeability study of poorly soluble drugs across gastrointestinal membranes: acceptor compartment media composition

Ex vivo drug permeability testing across gastrointestinal (GI) membranes is crucial in drug discovery and oral drug delivery. It is a reliable method for drugs with good solubility, but it poses challenges for poorly soluble drugs, which are common in development pipelines today. Although enabling formulations increase the apparent solubility in the GI compartment (dissolution vessel or permeation chamber's donor compartment), maintaining solubilized drug in the acceptor compartment during ex vivo testing remains largely unresolved. This review compiles and critically evaluates the diverse compositions of acceptor media used in ex vivo permeability studies for poorly soluble drugs, highlighting this significant yet underexplored aspect of pharmaceutical science. An algorithm is proposed for selecting solubility-enhancing additives for the acceptor media in ex vivo permeability studies of poorly soluble drugs.

Thermally-Induced Supersaturation Approach for Optimizing Drug Loading and Biopharmaceutical Properties of Supersaturated Lipid-Based Formulations: Case Studies with Ibrutinib and Enzalutamide

Lipid-based formulations (LbFs) have demonstrated success in pharmaceutical applications; however, challenges persist in dissolving entire doses of the drug into defined liquid volumes. In this study, the temperature-induced supersaturation method was employed in LbF to address drug loading and pill burden issues. Supersaturated LbFs (super-LbF) were prepared using the temperature-induced supersaturation method, where the drug load is above its equilibrium solubility. Further, the influence of the drug's physicochemical and thermal characteristics on drug loading and their relevance with an apparent degree of supersaturation (aDS) was studied using two model drugs, ibrutinib and enzalutamide. All the prepared LbFs were evaluated in terms of physical stability, dispersion, and solubilization capacity, as well as pharmacokinetic assessments. Drug re-crystallization was observed in the lipid solution on long-term storage at higher aDS values of 2-2.5. Furthermore, high-throughput lipolysis studies demonstrated a significant decrease in drug concentration across all LbFs (regardless of drug loading) due to a decline in the formulation solvation capacity and subsequent generation of in-situ supersaturation. Further, the in vivo results demonstrated comparable pharmacokinetic parameters between conventional LbF and super-LbF. The short duration of the thermodynamic metastable state limits the potential absorption benefits. However, super-LbFs of Ibr and Enz showed superior profiles, with 1.7-fold and 5.2-fold increased drug exposure compared to their respective crystalline suspensions. In summary, this study emphasizes the potential of temperature-induced supersaturation in LbF for enhancing drug loading and highlights the intricate interplay between drug properties, formulation characteristics, and in vivo performance.

Modification of microenvironmental pH of nanoparticles for enhanced solubility and oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble celecoxib

This study aimed to develop a novel pH-modified nanoparticle with improved solubility and oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble celecoxib by modifying the microenvironmental pH. After assessing the impact of hydrophilic polymers, surfactants and alkaline pH modifiers on the drug solubility, copovidone, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and meglumine were chosen. The optimal formulation of solvent-evaporated, surface-attached and pH-modified nanoparticles composed of celecoxib/copovidone/SLS/meglumine at weight ratios of 1:1:0.2:0, 1:0.375:1.125:0 and 1:1:1:0.2:0.02, respectively, were manufactured using spray drying technique. Their physicochemical characteristics, solubility, dissolution and pharmacokinetics in rats were evaluated compared to the celecoxib powder. The solvent-evaporated and pH-modified nanoparticles converted a crystalline to an amorphous drug, resulting in a spherical shape with a reduced particle size compared to celecoxib powder. However, the surface-attached nanoparticles with insignificant particle size exhibited the unchangeable crystalline drug. All of them gave significantly higher solubility, dissolution, and oral bioavailability than celecoxib powder. Among them, the pH-modified nanoparticles demonstrated the most significant improvement in solubility (approximately 1600-fold) and oral bioavailability (approximately 4-fold) compared to the drug powder owing to the alkaline microenvironment formation effect of meglumine and the conversion to the amorphous drug. Thus, the pH-modified nanoparticle system would be a promising strategy for improving the solubility and oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble and weakly acidic celecoxib.

Absorption of cinnarizine from type II lipid-based formulations: Impact of lipid chain length, supersaturation, digestion, and precipitation inhibition

Lipid-based formulations (LBFs) are an enabling-formulation approach for lipophilic poorly water-soluble compounds. In LBFs, drugs are commonly pre-dissolved in lipids, and/or surfactants/cosolvents, hereby avoiding the rate-limiting dissolution step. According to the Lipid formulation classification system, proposed by Pouton in 2006, in type II LBFs a surfactant with an HLB-value lower than 12 is added to the lipids. If high drug doses are required, e.g. for preclinical toxicity studies, supersaturated LBFs prepared at elevated temperatures may be a possibility to increase drug exposure. In the present study, the impact of digestion on drug absorption in rats was studied by pre-dosing of the lipase inhibitor orlistat. The lipid chain length of the type II LBFs was varied by administration of a medium-chain- (MC) and a long-chain (LC)-based formulation. Different drug doses, both non-supersaturated and supersaturated, were applied. Due to an inherent precipitation tendency of cinnarizine in supersaturated LBFs, the effect of the addition of the precipitation inhibitor Soluplus® was also investigated. The pharmacokinetic results were also evaluated by multiple linear regression. In most cases LC-based LBFs did not perform better in vivo, in terms of a higher area under the curve (AUC0-24 h) and maximal plasma concentration (Cmax), than MC-based LBFs. The administration of supersaturated LBFs resulted in increased AUC0-24 h (1.5 - 3.2-fold) and Cmax (1.1 - 2.6-fold)-values when compared to the non-supersaturated equivalents. Lipase inhibition led to a decreased drug exposure in most cases, especially for LC formulations (AUC0-24 h reduced to 47 - 67%, Cmax to 46 - 62%). The addition of Soluplus® showed a benefit to drug absorption from supersaturated type II LBFs (1.2 - 1.7-fold AUC0-24 h), due to an increased solubility of cinnarizine in the formulation. Upon dose-normalization of the pharmacokinetic parameters, no beneficial effect of Soluplus® could be demonstrated.

Digestion is a critical element for absorption of cinnarizine from supersaturated lipid-based type I formulations

Enabling formulations, such as lipid-based formulations (LBFs), are means to deliver challenging-to-formulate, poorly soluble drugs. LBFs may be composed of lipids, surfactants and/or cosolvents and can be classified depending on the proportions of the components and the hydrophilicity of the surfactant according to the Lipid Formulations Classification System, ranging from type I (very lipophilic) to type IV (hydrophilic). In cases where drug solubility in LBFs does not suffice, e.g. for preclinical toxicity studies, supersaturated LBFs can be used in order to increase the drug load. However, the effect of digestion on drug absorption from supersaturated type I formulations (consisting exclusively of lipids) still remains relatively unexplored and unclear. In the present study, the impact of lipid digestion on absorption of cinnarizine-loaded supersaturated lipid-based formulations of type I was investigated in rats by pre-dosing of the lipase inhibitor orlistat. The lipid chain length and the drug dose were varied by testing medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) and long-chain triglycerides (LCT), both supersaturated and non-supersaturated. Due to the physical instability of supersaturated formulations of cinnarizine, i.e. a potential of precipitation of cinnarizine, the impact of the addition of the amphiphilic polymer Soluplus®, as a potential precipitation inhibitor, was also investigated. The supersaturated systems resulted in a 2.3 - 3.3-fold higher Area Under the Curve (AUC0-24 h, not dose-normalized) and 1.4 - 2.2-fold higher maximum plasma concentration (Cmax, not dose-normalized) than non-supersaturated formulations (statistically significant with p = 0.05), whereas the addition of Soluplus® did not reveal any benefit. Results indicated that lipase inhibition affected the in vivo performance of LBFs: Co-administration of the lipase inhibitor significantly reduced Cmax and AUC0-24 h (both to 33-39 %, not dose-normalized) for the LCT formulations and, though not significant, a similar trend was observed for the AUC0-24 h of the MCT formulations (to 53-87 %), suggesting a higher dependency on lipolysis for LCT. Also, tmax tended to decrease to 20-60 % when compared to the animals not dosed with orlistat but lacking statistical significance. Without lipase inhibition, the LCT in general lead to better absorption of cinnarizine as compared to MCT, with 1.2-1.7-fold higher AUC0-24 h and 1.4-1.8-fold higher Cmax, but without showing statistical significance. Overall, the study revealed that lipolysis plays a major role in drug absorption from supersaturated lipid-based formulations type I.

Lipid based formulations as supersaturating oral delivery systems: From current to future industrial applications

Lipid-based formulations, in particular supersaturated lipid-based formulations, are important delivery approaches when formulating challenging compounds, as especially low water-soluble compounds profit from delivery in a pre-dissolved state. In this article, the classification of lipid-based formulation is described, followed by a detailed discussion of different supersaturated lipid-based formulations and the recent advances reported in the literature. The supersaturated lipid-based formulations discussed include both the in situ forming supersaturated systems as well as the thermally induced supersaturated lipid-based formulations. The in situ forming drug supersaturation by lipid-based formulations has been widely employed and numerous clinically available products are on the market. There are some scientific gaps in the field, but in general there is a good understanding of the mechanisms driving the success of these systems. For thermally induced supersaturation, the technology is not yet fully understood and developed, hence more research is required in this field to explore the formulations beyond preclinical studies and initial clinical trials.

Supersaturating lipid-based solid dispersion of atazanavir provides enhanced solubilization and supersaturation in the digestive aqueous phase

Understanding and controlling the drug solubilization in digestive environment is of great importance in the design of lipid based solid dispersion (LBSD) for oral delivery of poorly aqueous soluble drugs. In the current study we determined the extent of drug solubilization and supersaturation of supersaturating lipid based solid dispersion which is governed by formulation variables like drug payload, lipid composition, solid carrier properties and lipid to solid carrier ratio. Initially, the impact of lipid chain length and drug payload on drug solubilization in lipid preconcentrate and dispersibility were evaluated to design liquid LbF of the model antiretroviral drug, atazanavir. The temperature induced supersaturation method enhanced the drug payload in medium chain triglyceride formulation at 60 °C. Further, the selected liquid supersaturated LbF was transformed into solid state LbF by employing different solid carriers including silica (Neusilin® US2 and Aerosil® 200), clay (Montmorillonite and Bentonite) and polymer (HPMC-AS and Kollidon® CL-M). The fabricated LBSDs were evaluated for solid state characterization to identify the physical nature of drug. In vitro digestion studies were conducted using pH-stat lipolysis method to assess the supersaturation propensity in aqueous digestive phase. Results revealed that LBSDs with silica and polymer carriers showed maximum drug solubilization throughout experiment compared to liquid LbF. The ionic interaction between drug-clay particles significantly reduced the ATZ partitioning from clay based LBSDs. LBSDs with dual purpose solid carrier like HPMC-AS and Neusilin® US2 offers the potential to improve drug solubilization of ATZ for physiologically relevant time. Lastly, we conclude that evaluation of formulation variables is crucial to achieve optimal performance of supersaturating LBSD.

Commercially Available Cell-Free Permeability Tests for Industrial Drug Development: Increased Sustainability through Reduction of In Vivo Studies

Replacing in vivo with in vitro studies can increase sustainability in the development of medicines. This principle has already been applied in the biowaiver approach based on the biopharmaceutical classification system, BCS. A biowaiver is a regulatory process in which a drug is approved based on evidence of in vitro equivalence, i.e., a dissolution test, rather than on in vivo bioequivalence. Currently biowaivers can only be granted for highly water-soluble drugs, i.e., BCS class I/III drugs. When evaluating poorly soluble drugs, i.e., BCS class II/IV drugs, in vitro dissolution testing has proved to be inadequate for predicting in vivo drug performance due to the lack of permeability interpretation. The aim of this review was to provide solid proofs that at least two commercially available cell-free in vitro assays, namely, the parallel artificial membrane permeability assay, PAMPA, and the PermeaPad^® assay, PermeaPad, in different formats and set-ups, have the potential to reduce and replace in vivo testing to some extent, thus increasing sustainability in drug development. Based on the literature review presented here, we suggest that these assays should be implemented as alternatives to (1) more energy-intense in vitro methods, e.g., refining/replacing cell-based permeability assays, and (2) in vivo studies, e.g., reducing the number of pharmacokinetic studies conducted on animals and humans. For this to happen, a new and modern legislative framework for drug approval is required.

In-vitro dynamic dissolution/bioconversion/permeation of fosamprenavir using a novel tool with an artificial biomimetic permeation barrier and microdialysis-sampling

Fosamprenavir is a phosphate ester prodrug that, upon dissolution, is cleaved to the poorly soluble yet readily absorbable parent drug amprenavir. In this study, a novel cell-free in vitro setup with quasi-continuous monitoring of the dynamic dissolution/bio-conversion/permeation of fosamprenavir was designed and tested. It consists of side-by-side diffusion cells, where the donor and acceptor compartments are separated by the biomimetic barrier PermeaPad®, and sampling from the donor compartment is accomplished via a microdialysis probe. Externally added bovine alkaline phosphatase induced bioconversion in the donor compartment. Microdialysis sampling allowed to follow the enzymatic conversion of fosamprenavir to amprenavir by the bovine alkaline phosphatase in an (almost) real-time manner eliminating the need to remove or inactivate the enzyme. Biomimetic conversion rates in the setup were established by adding appropriate amounts of the alkaline phosphatase. A substantial (6.5-fold) and persistent supersaturation of amprenavir was observed due to bioconversion at lower (500 µM) concentrations, resulting in a substantially increased flux across the biomimetic barrier, nicely reflecting the situation in vivo. At conditions with an almost 10-fold higher dose than the usual human dose, some replicates showed premature precipitation and collapse of supersaturation, while others did not. In conclusion, the proposed novel tool appears very promising in gaining an in-depth mechanistic understanding of the bioconversion/permeation interplay, including transient supersaturation of phosphate-ester prodrugs like fosamprenavir.

Drug delivery to the brain: In situ gelling formulation enhances carbamazepine diffusion through nasal mucosa models with mucin

The objective of this work was to optimize a thermosensitive in situ gelling formulation to improve intranasal and nose-to-brain delivery of the antiepileptic drug carbamazepine (CBZ). A preliminary procedure of vehicles obtained just mixing different fractions of poloxamer 407 (P407) and poloxamer 188 (P188) revealed preparations with phase transition temperatures, times to gelation and pH values suitable for nasal delivery. Subsequently, the mucoadhesive properties of the most promising formulations were tuned by adding hydroxypropylmethylcellulose types of different viscosity grades, and the effect of the adhesive polymers was evaluated by testing in vitro time and strength of mucoadhesion on specimens of sheep nasal mucosa. The formulation that showed the greatest mucoadhesive potential in vitro, with a time and force of mucoadhesion equal to 1746,75 s and 3.66 × 10-4 N, respectively, was that composed of 22% P407, 5% P188 and 0.8% HPMC low-viscous and it was further investigated for its ability to increase drug solubility and to control the release of the drug. Lastly, the capability of the candidate vehicle to ensure drug permeation across the biomimetic membrane Permeapad®, an artificial phospholipid-based barrier with a stratified architecture, and the same barrier enriched with a mucin layer was verified. The final formulation was characterized by a pH value of 6.0, underwent gelation at 32.33°C in 37.85 s, thus showing all the features required by in situ gelling thermosensitive preparations designed for nasal delivery and, more notably, it conserved the ability to favor drug permeation in the presence of mucin. These findings suggest that the optimized gelling system could be a promising and easy to realize strategy to improve CBZ delivery to the brain exploiting both a direct and indirect pathway.

Best practices in current models mimicking drug permeability in the gastrointestinal tract - an UNGAP review

The absorption of orally administered drug products is a complex, dynamic process, dependent on a range of biopharmaceutical properties; notably the aqueous solubility of a molecule, stability within the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and permeability. From a regulatory perspective, the concept of high intestinal permeability is intrinsically linked to the fraction of the oral dose absorbed. The relationship between permeability and the extent of absorption means that experimental models of permeability have regularly been used as a surrogate measure to estimate the fraction absorbed. Accurate assessment of a molecule's intestinal permeability is of critical importance during the pharmaceutical development process of oral drug products, and the current review provides a critique of in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo approaches. The usefulness of in silico models to predict drug permeability is also discussed and an overview of solvent systems used in permeability assessments is provided. Studies of drug absorption in humans are an indirect indicator of intestinal permeability, but in vitro and ex vivo tools provide initial screening approaches are important tools for direct assessment of permeability in drug development. Continued refinement of the accuracy of in silico approaches and their validation with human in vivo data will facilitate more efficient characterisation of permeability earlier in the drug development process and will provide useful inputs for integrated, end-to-end absorption modelling.

Amino acids and its pharmaceutical applications: A mini review

Amino acids are natural compounds that can be safely used in pharmaceutical applications. Considering the great interest in the amino acids used in the pharmaceutical industry, this article presents an overview of investigations reported in recent years. In this regard, the first sections begin with an introductory description of the properties, classification and safety of amino acids, while in the other sections the most common methods for the preparation of amino acids formulations and their application on solubilization, permeation and stabilization of several active pharmaceutical ingredients are described. Furthermore, available data about the multicomponent systems approach is included. Lastly, the impact of amino acids formulations on therapeutic efficacy is explored. The advantages illustrated suggest that amino acids are capable of improving the biopharmaceutical properties of drugs.

Study and Computational Modeling of Fatty Acid Effects on Drug Solubility in Lipid-Based Systems

Lipid-based systems have many advantages in formulation of poorly water-soluble drugs but issues of a limited solvent capacity are often encountered in development. One of the possible solubilization approaches of especially basic drugs could be the addition of fatty acids to oils but currently, a systematic study is lacking. Therefore, the present work investigated apparently neutral and basic drugs in medium chain triglycerides (MCT) alone and with added either caproic acid (C6), caprylic acid (C8), capric acid (C10) or oleic acid (C18:1) at different levels (5 - 20%, w/w). A miniaturized solubility assay was used together with X-ray diffraction to analyze the residual solid and finally, solubility data were modeled using the conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS). Some drug bases had an MCT solubility of only a few mg/ml or less but addition of fatty acids provided in some formulations exceptional drug loading of up to about 20% (w/w). The solubility changes were in general more pronounced the shorter the chain length was and the longest oleic acid even displayed a negative effect in mixtures of celecoxib and fenofibrate. The COSMO-RS prediction accuracy was highly specific for the given compounds with root mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from an excellent 0.07 to a highest value of 1.12. The latter was obtained with the strongest model base pimozide for which a new solid form was found in some samples. In conclusion, targeting specific molecular interactions with the solute combined with mechanistic modeling provides new tools to advance lipid-based drug delivery.

Amorphous Form of Carvedilol Phosphate-The Case of Divergent Properties

The amorphous form of carvedilol phosphate (CVD) was obtained as a result of grinding. The identity of the obtained amorphous form was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), different scanning calorimetry (DSC), and FT-IR spectroscopy. The process was optimized in order to obtain the appropriate efficiency and time. The crystalline form of CVD was used as the reference standard. Solid dispersions of crystalline and amorphous CVD forms with hydrophilic polymers (hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin, Pluronic^® F-127, and Soluplus^®) were obtained. Their solubility at pH 1.2 and 6.8 was carried out, as well as their permeation through a model system of biological membranes suitable for the gastrointestinal tract (PAMPA-GIT) was established. The influence of selected polymers on CVD properties was defined for the amorphous form regarding the crystalline form of CVD. As a result of grinding (four milling cycles lasting 15 min with 5 min breaks), amorphous CVD was obtained. Its presence was confirmed by the “halo effect” on the diffraction patterns, the disappearance of the peak at 160.5 °C in the thermograms, and the changes in position/disappearance of many characteristic bands on the FT-IR spectra. As a result of changes in the CVD structure, its lower solubility at pH 1.2 and pH 6.8 was noted. While the amorphous dispersions of CVD, especially with Pluronic^® F-127, achieved better solubility than combinations of crystalline forms with excipients. Using the PAMPA-GIT model, amorphous CVD was assessed as high permeable (Papp > 1 × 10⁻⁶ cm/s), similarly with its amorphous dispersions with excipients (hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin, Pluronic^® F-127, and Soluplus^®), although in their cases, the values of apparent constants permeability were decreased.

Exploring precipitation inhibitors to improve in vivo absorption of cinnarizine from supersaturated lipid-based drug delivery systems

Supersaturated lipid-based drug delivery systems are increasingly being explored as a bio-enabling formulation approach, particularly in preclinical evaluation of poorlywater-soluble drugs. While increasing the drug load through thermally-induced supersaturation resulted in enhanced in vivo exposure for some drugs, for others, such as cinnarizine, supersaturated lipid-based systems have not been found beneficial to increase the in vivo bioavailability. We hypothesized that incorporation of precipitation inhibitors to reduce drug precipitation may address this limitation. Therefore, pharmacokinetic profiles of cinnarizine supersaturated lipid-based drug delivery systems with or without precipitation inhibitors were compared. Five precipitation inhibitors were selected for investigation based on a high throughput screening of twenty-one excipients. In vivo results showed that addition of 5% precipitation inhibitors to long chain monoglyceride (LCM) or medium chain monoglyceride (MCM) formulations showed a general trend of increases in cinnarizine bioavailability, albeit only statistically significantly increased for Poloxamer 407 + LCM system (i.e. 2.7-fold increase in AUC_0-24h compared to LCM without precipitation inhibitors). It appeared that precipitation inhibitors mitigated the risk of in vivo precipitation of cinnarizine from sLBDDS and overall, bioavailability was comparable to that previously reported for cinnarizine after dosing of non-supersaturated lipid systems. In summary, for drugs which are prone to precipitation from supersaturated lipid-based drug delivery systems, such as cinnarizine, inclusion of precipitation inhibitors mitigates this risk and provides the opportunity to maximize exposure which is ideally suited in early efficacy and toxicology evaluation.