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Capsule-based dry powder inhalers (cDPIs) are widely utilized in the delivery of pharmaceutical powders to the lungs. In these systems, the fundamental nature of the interactions between the drug/formulation powder, the capsules, the inhaler device, and the patient must be fully elucidated in order to develop robust manufacturing procedures and provide reproducible lung deposition of the drug payload. Though many commercially available DPIs utilize a capsule-based dose metering system, an in-depth analysis of the critical factors associated with the use of the capsule component has not yet been performed. This review is intended to provide information on critical factors to be considered for the application of a quality by design (QbD) approach for cDPI development. The quality target product profile (QTPP) defines the critical quality attributes (CQAs) which need to be understood to define the critical material attributes (CMA) and critical process parameters (CPP) for cDPI development as well as manufacturing and control.

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits of a ternary amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) that was designed as an immediate-release tablet with a high drug load (e.g., 40% w/w) to produce heightened maintenance of drug supersaturation during dissolution testing, which will be henceforth referred to as the "maintenance ability". Ternary ASD granules were produced by hot melt extrusion (HME) and were comprised of itraconazole (ITZ) 50%, hypromellose (HPMC) 20%, and mesoporous silica (XDP) 30%, where amorphous ITZ incorporated into HPMC was efficiently absorbed in XDP pores. The ternary ASD granules containing a high-viscosity HPMC (AF4M) produced a significantly heightened maintenance ability of drug supersaturation in neutral pH dissolution media in which crystalline ITZ solubility is below 1 µg/mL. The final tablet formulation contained 80% w/w of the ASD granules (40% w/w ITZ), had an acceptable size, and exhibited both sufficient tablet hardness and disintegration. The dissolution behavior of the ternary ASD tablet exhibited a supersaturation maintenance ability similar to that of the ASD granules. Under neutral conditions, the ternary ASD tablet showed immediate and higher ITZ release compared with the binary ASD tablets, and this phenomenon could be explained by the difference in ITZ/AF4M particle size in the tablet. In high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM), it was observed that ITZ and AF4M in the ternary formulation could easily form nano-sized particles (<1 µm) during the absorption process into/onto XDP pores prepared by HME, which contributed to the immediate ITZ release from the ternary ASD tablet under neutral pH conditions. Therefore, the ternary ASD containing high-viscosity HPMC and mesoporous silica prepared by HME made it possible to design a high ASD content, small-size tablet with an ideal dissolution profile in biorelevant media, and we expect that this technology can be applied for continuous HME ASD manufacturing.

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Oral delivery of poorly water-soluble, weakly basic drugs may be problematic based on the drugs' intrinsic properties. Many drugs in this subset have overcome barriers to delivery following successful formulation as amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs). To process drugs as ASDs, multiple commercially relevant technologies have been developed and become well understood. However, ASD-producing technologies like spray drying and KinetiSol produce ASDs with vastly differing particle characteristics. Ultimately, the objective of this study was to assess whether processing an ASD of identical composition utilizing two different ASD-producing technologies (KinetiSol and spray drying) may impact the oral bioavailability of a weakly basic drug. For this study, we selected a weakly basic drug (Boehringer Ingelheim research compound 639667, BI 667) and processed it with an anionic polymer (hypromellose acetate succinate MMP grade (HPMCAS-MMP)) to evaluate whether the processing technology could modulate drug release in acidic and neutral media. Multiple characterization techniques (specific surface area (SSA), particle size distribution (PSD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM)) were utilized to evaluate the surface characteristics and differences in particles produced by KinetiSol and spray drying. Molecular interactions and drug-polymer miscibility of the processed particles were assessed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, respectively. In vitro nonsink, pH-shift dissolution in biorelevant media and dissolution/permeation studies were conducted to better understand the release of BI 667 based on processing technology and particle size distribution. Finally, an in vivo male Beagle dog study was conducted to assess the impact of processing technology on oral bioavailability. In this study, we demonstrate that particles produced by KinetiSol have enhanced oral bioavailability compared with spray-dried particles when delivering a weakly basic drug processed with an anionic polymer. The findings of this study demonstrate that by utilizing KinetiSol, drug release may be controlled such that supersaturation in acidic media is inhibited and supersaturation of the drug is designed to occur in neutral media, ultimately enhancing oral bioavailability.

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KinetiSol® is a high-shear, fusion-based technology capable of producing stable amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) without the assistance of solvent. KinetiSol® has proven successful with multiple challenging BCS class II and IV drugs, where drug properties like thermal instability or lack of appreciable solubility in volatile solvents make hot melt extrusion or spray drying unfeasible. However, there is a necessity to characterize the ASDs like those made by the KinetiSol® process, in order to better understand whether KinetiSol® is capable of homogeneously dispersing drug throughout a carrier in a short (<40 s) processing time. Our study utilized the high melting point, BCS class II drug, meloxicam, in order to evaluate the degree of homogeneity of 1, 5, and 10% w/w KinetiSol®-processed samples. Powder blend homogeneity and content uniformity were evaluated, and all samples demonstrated a meloxicam concentration % relative standard deviation of ≤2.0%. SEM/EDS was utilized to map elemental distribution of the processed samples, which confirmed KinetiSol®-processed materials were homogeneous at a 25 µm2 area. Utilizing Raman spectroscopy, we were able to verify the amorphous content of the processed samples. Finally, we utilized ssNMR 1 H spin-lattice relaxation measurement to evaluate the molecular miscibility of meloxicam with the polymer at 1% w/w drug load, for the first time, and determined the processed sample was highly miscible at ∼200 nm scale. In conclusion, we determined the KinetiSol® process is capable of producing ASDs that are homogeneously and molecularly well-dispersed drug-in-polymer at drug concentrations as low as 1% w/w.

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Solid-state NMR (ssNMR) analysis of pharmaceutical materials relies on accurate resonance assignments. The relatively low sensitivity and resolution from the natural abundance and solid-state nature of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and particularly the disordered structure of amorphous forms result in the ambiguous identification of NMR peaks. In this study, a robust protocol for unambiguously assigning 13C and 1H chemical shifts of crystalline and amorphous APIs has been established and successfully tested on γ-polymorph indomethacin. Specifically, one-dimensional (1D) 13C-edited experiments, two-dimensional (2D) 13C-detected homo- and heteronuclear correlations, and 2D 1H-detected techniques under ultrafast magic angle spinning (MAS) provide enhanced resolution to identify overlapped 13C resonances and assign confidently the 1H chemical shifts. This experimental strategy allows us to assign particularly those carbons and protons either unassigned or ambiguous identified due to the technical challenges in previous literature. Besides, the chemical shift comparison between the crystalline and amorphous forms can potentially report the molecular packing variations.

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This study focuses on the relationship between drug dissolution properties, physical stability against recrystallization, and specific mechanical energy (SME) from a hot melt extrusion (HME) process of ternary amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) containing indomethacin (IND), HPMC and mesoporous silica (XDP) prepared using different HME screw condition (the number of kneading zones/rotation speed). The screw condition greatly influenced the amorphous characteristics of the processed material and SME values. The higher SME samples demonstrated a larger parachute effect in dissolution test and reduced the rate of recrystallization upon exposure to elevated temperature/humidity conditions, which can be explained from the enhanced miscibility and interactions of IND/HPMC/XDP. The molecular investigation by solid-state NMR (ssNMR) suggested that higher SME input produced better IND/HPMC miscibility and interaction. Interestingly, XDP showed distinct contacts with IND and HPMC in the high-SME samples. The IND-HPMC interaction is not sufficient to maintain a highly mixed ASD at a high drug load without the assistance of XDP. Therefore, SME is a critical parameter for predicting enhanced dissolution and physical stability of IND in ASDs. Moreover, multi-nuclear and multi-dimensional ssNMR provide mechanistic understanding of molecular properties and bring new perspectives for preparation, analysis, and applications of XDP as a pharmaceutical carrier.

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The focus of our study was to employ a solvent-free, thermal process to evaluate the use of a porous carrier in a drug-polymer-porous carrier ternary formulation containing a high drug load (e.g., ≥50% w/w). The purpose of the study was to improve the dissolution properties of the biopharmaceutical classification system class II drug, indomethacin, in the ternary formulation. The effect that the selected polymer has on properties of the formulation was studied, and the formulation characteristics of hypromellose (AF15), copovidone (VA64), and polyvinyl alcohol-polyethylene glycol graft copolymer was evaluated to understand differences in dissolution rates and drug adsorption onto the porous carrier. The ternary formulations were manufactured using a thermal technique that relied on heating and mixing, without the necessity of mechanical shear. All thermally processed granules that employed the porous carrier exhibited immediate release compared with crystalline indomethacin and physical mixtures. In addition, the ternary formulations maintained supersaturation compared with the binary formulations without polymer. The results of this study indicated that the thermally processed ternary formulations containing a porous carrier demonstrated a much improved dissolution profile in nonsink conditions.

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Poor water-solubility remains a typical property of drug candidates in pharmaceutical development pipelines today. Various processes have been developed to increase the solubility, dissolution rate, and bioavailability of these active ingredients belonging to biopharmaceutical classification system (BCS) II and IV classifications. Since the early 2000s, nanocrystal delivery and amorphous solid dispersions are more established techniques to overcome the limitations of poorly-water soluble drugs in FDA available products. This article provides an updated review of nanocrystal and amorphous solid dispersion techniques primarily for orally delivered medicaments. The thermodynamic and kinetic theories relative to these technologies are presented along with marketed product evaluations and a survey of commercially relevant scientific literature.

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Polyvinyl alcohol has received little attention as a matrix polymer in amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) due to its thermal and rheological limitations in extrusion processing and limited organic solubility in spray drying applications. Additionally, in extrusion processing, the high temperatures required to process often exclude thermally labile APIs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of processing polyvinyl alcohol amorphous solid dispersions utilizing the model compound ritonavir with KinetiSol® Dispersing (KSD) technology. The effects of KSD rotor speed and ejection temperature on the physicochemical properties of the processed material were evaluated. Powder X-ray diffraction and modulated differential scanning calorimetry were used to confirm amorphous conversion. Liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy was used to characterize and identify degradation pathways of ritonavir during KSD processing and (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to investigate polymer stability. An optimal range of processing conditions was found that resulted in amorphous product and minimal to no drug and polymer degradation. Drug release of the ASD produced from the optimal processing conditions was evaluated using a non-sink, pH-shift dissolution test. The ability to process amorphous solid dispersions with polyvinyl alcohol as a matrix polymer will enable further investigations of the polymer's performance in amorphous systems for poorly water-soluble compounds.

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