Improvement of dissolution rate of a new antiretroviral drug using an anti-solvent crystallization technology

• Main Author: Paiva Lacerda, Suênia de
• Format: Others
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://oatao.univ-toulouse.fr/9301/1/de_paiva_lacerda.pdf

This study concerns a new antiretroviral drug named CRS 74. This molecule has a limited bioavailability because of its low aqueous solubility, poor water wettability and low dissolution rate. In an attempt to improve these properties, CRS 74 was recrystallized by using a Liquid Anti-Solvent (LAS) crystallization process. The chosen solvent is the ethanol and the anti-solvent the water. So solid-liquid equilibria in binary mixtures ethanol/water were measured at 30°C. The obtained solubility data were represented using UNIQUACbased model. The experimental and calculated solubilities permitted to estimate the optimal ethanol/water mass ratios (25/75 % w/w) in order to maximize the theoretical yield of solid. A double-jet with premixing (T-mixer) has been used to mix the two solutions. Particles of recrystallized CRS 74 seemed more agglomerated and the dissolution profile was not modified compared to the original drug. Furthermore, the study of crystals obtained at the exit of the mixer showed that the growth and agglomeration rates of crystals are high.In an attempt to improve its dissolution properties, CRS 74 has been recrystallized using different additives to optimize process and formulation parameters. Conclusively, produced microcrystals exhibited significantly faster dissolution rates than the original CRS 74 crystals. The improved dissolution is attributable to the modification of the particle size of drug crystals and enhancement of wetting properties due to specific interactions between the drug and the additives.