1. Pharmaceutical pre-formulation
Fakhrul Ahsan, Ph.D.
Office: Room # 214
fakhrul.ahsan@ttuhsc.edu
I have used the above book, Pharmaceutical dosage forms: Tablets Volume 1 by
Lieberman et al. I may have used sentences directly the book. A large number of
pictures used in this note are from various websites, which I did not cite to avoid
clutters.
2. Learning objectives
1. Understand pharmaceutical formulations and pre-formulations
2. Appreciate the roles of various physicochemical parameters in
dosage form development.
3. Define and understand the following parameters:
Solubility
PKa
Partition coefficient
Dissolution
Polymorphism
Drug stability
Particle size, shape and surface area
Flow properties
Compression properties
Compatibility with excipients
Hygroscopicity
4. Pharmaceutical formulations
A recipe or formula for a dosage form that
includes the following information
Name and quantities ingredients
Sequence of mixing the ingredients
Processing steps
A recipe for preparation of a drug product is
called formulation.
A Pharmaceutical formulation contains
One or more active ingredient (Drug)
Many additives called excipients
5. Pharmaceutical pre-formulation
Study the physical and chemical properties of a
drug substance alone and in combination with
excipients.
The first step in the rational development of
dosage forms of a drug substance.
Help develop stable and bioavailable dosage
forms that can be produced in large amount.
You start pre-formulation after biological
screening and when you decide for moving
forward to clinical trials
6. Pre-formulation parameters
Organoleptic Properties
Purity
Drug stability
Particle size, shape and
surface area
Solubility
pH-solubility profile
Solubilization
Dissolution
Partition coefficients
Ionization constant
Permeation across biological
membrane
Crystal properties and
polymorphism
Stability in the presence of
excipients
Density
Hygroscopicity
Flowability
Compactibility
Wettability
Potential hazards associated
with handling
7. Organoleptic properties
These parameters can be perceived
by sense organ:
Color
Odor
Taste
Drug substances, in general, have characteristics color,
odor and taste.
In pre-formulation step, you determine the organoleptic
properties.
In case of unacceptable tastes and odors, you add
flavors and excipients
You can add dyes to alleviate the unsightly and variable
color.
8. How do we test the taste?
Electronic tongue
A sensor device that can recognize, identify, and
discriminate tastes and flavors of various liquids
http://www.electronictongue.com/stand.html
9. Purity
The presence of unwanted substances is not
desirable.
Common impurities are
Metals:
Even a few parts per million may cause deleterious
effects on the dosage form.
Synthetic intermediates:
Maybe toxic or may not have therapeutic effects
Slight impurity may affect the appearance of the
drug substance
10. Solubility
The concentration of a solute in
a saturated solution at a certain
temperature.
Solubility affects
Bioavailability,
Drug release rate
Therapeutic efficacy.
Determination of solubility
Prepare a solution of the
material in a solvent by
adding an excess of the
material
Shake the solution until an
equilibrium is established
Quantitate the drug using an
analytical method
11. Solubilization
The process that increases the solubility
You can increase the solubility by adding a third
substance to the aqueous solution of a drug.
Common solubilizers
Organic solvents
Surfactants
Complexing agents.
Need for solubilization
If a drug has a solubility of 5 g/L, the dose is 500
mg, how much water would you need to solubilize a
single dose of the drug?
We will need 100,000 liter water to solubilize this
drug
Or we have to use other agents to solubilize the
drug.
The water volume of a pool 60 ft. long, 30 ft. wide and that slopes in depth from 3 ft. to 10 ft. is as
follows: 30 x 60 x ((10 + 3)/2) = 11,700 cubic ft. of water 11,700 x 7.5 = 87,750 gallons. =332,170 liters
12. pH-solubility profiles
Solubility of acidic and
basic compounds depend
on the pH of the medium
The solubility of a
compound is the sum of
the solubility of ionized
and unionized forms
An acidic compound is
more soluble in a basic
solvent
A basic compound is more
soluble in an acidic
solvent.
pH
Log
solubility
µmol/L)
Amphoteric drug
Basic drug
Acidic
drug
13. Ionization constant
The equilibrium constant for the reaction in which a
weak acid or base is in equilibrium with its
conjugate base or acid in aqueous solution.
Kb is the ionization constant of a base
Ka is the ionization constant of an acid
pKa = -log Ka
The smaller the pKa, the stronger the acid,
The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation can estimate
the ionized and un-ionized drug concentration at a
particular pH.
For acidic compounds:
pH = pKa + log ([ionized drug]/[un-ionized drug])
For basic compounds:
pH = pKa + log ([un-ionized drug]/[ionized drug])
14. Ionization constant
Drug stability
Drug instability may result from the gain or loss of a
proton by a substrate molecule
An electronic rearrangement may reduce or increase the
reactivity of the molecule
Drug activity
Weakly acidic or basic drugs may exist in ionized or non-
ionized form or in a mixture of both.
Drug absorption
Absorption of a many of drugs depends on the ionization
constants.
Non-ionized form of an acidic or basic drugs are soluble in
lipids and better absorbed via the lipoidal biological
membrane.
Completely ionized drugs are absorbed poorly.
15. Let’s take the poll
►Solubility is an organoleptic property (T/F).
►Solubility of an acidic drug increases with the
increase in pH of the solution (T/F).
►Ionized form of a drug is likely to be better
absorbed from the GI tract.
►To solubilize a drug, we prepare a drug solution
using as much water as we need (T/F).
16. Dissolution
The act of dissolving a
drug in a solvent or
biological fluid
The rate of dissolution is
the rate at which a solid
dissolves into a solvent
You can assess the extent
of absorption (In vitro) of
drugs from dosage forms
such as tablets and
capsules
Low dissolution means
(usually) poor absorption
Dissolution is the rate
limiting step for
absorption of poorly
soluble drug.
Used as a surrogate for
bioavailability
17. Dissolution assay
You place tablets or capsules
in a stainless steel wire
basket
You rotate the basket at a
fixed speed
Put the basket in the
dissolution medium contained
in a cylindrical vessel.
Collect sample periodically
and analyze for drug content.
Plot the amount of drug
against time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqz0X3y3vjs
18. Particle size, shape and surface
area
A particle is any unit of matter having
defined physical diameter.
Particle size should be controlled for
oral, parenteral and topical
formulations.
Bioavailability of a drug substance
depends on particle size
Flow properties for solid formulations
depends on particle size.
►Dissolution video
19. Particle size, shape and surface
area
Decrease in particle size,
increases the surface area.
Increased surface area,
increases solubility, dissolution
and bioavailability.
Particle shapes affect the flow,
surface area and packing
properties of a powder.
Intact Chopped
20. Crystal properties and
polymorphism
Polymorphism occurs
when a drug substance
exists in more than one
crystalline form with
different space lattice
arrangements.
Properties that may vary
due to polymorphisms are
Physical properties
(melting point)
Solubility
Rate of dissolution
21. Polymorphism affects bioavailability
and stability
A more soluble and fast-dissolving
polymorph is preferred over poorly
soluble and slowly dissolving form
Usually, only one polymorphic form is
thermodynamically stable at a given
temperature and pressure.
The less stable forms converts to the
stable form with time
Stable polymorph exhibits the highest
melting point, the lowest solubility, and
the maximum chemical stability.
23. Partition and distribution
coefficients
Measures drug's lipophilicity and determines
drug’s ability to cross cell membranes.
The ratio of concentration of a compound in the
two phases of a mixture of two immiscible
solvents at equilibrium
Po/w = (Coil/Cwater)equilibrium
The rate of drug transfer for passively absorbed
drugs is directly related to the lipophilicity of the
molecule.
24. Partition coefficient (LogP)
The ratio of concentrations of a unionized
compound between an aqueous and organic
solvent
You can measure the partition coefficient of
ionizable solutes by adjusting the pH so that
compound remains predominantly in the un-
ionized form in the solvent.
25. Distribution coefficient (LogD)
Log D is the ratio of the sum of the
concentrations of both ionized and
un-ionized form in octanol and
water
You can measure the distribution
coefficient by adjusting pH with a
buffer that will remain unaffected
due to incorporation of the
compound
26. Determination of partition
coefficients
Commonly determined using
an oil phase of octanol or
chloroform and water.
When P is greater than 1,
drug is classified as lipophilic,
when it is less than 1, drug is
hydrophilic
27. Permeation across a biological membrane
Drug permeability
The rate of drug transport
across a biological membrane
is called drug permeability.
Permeability provide
information regarding
absorption characteristics of
a drug.
You can use cell or isolated
organs for the permeability
study
Place drug in one side of the
membrane and stir the fluid
Collect samples periodically
and analyze for the drug
content.
Drug permeation
28. Let’s take the poll
Decrease in particle size , increases the surface
area and thus increase the drug absorption (T/F).
Dissolution is the rate limiting step for absorption
of highly soluble drug (T/F).
Drugs with a higher partition coefficient (Po/w>1) is
likely to be hydrophilic (T/F).
Two polymorphs of a drug may have different
solubility (T/F).
29. Drug stability
You have to investigate if a drug undergoes
degradation or loses its efficacy due to any
chemical or physical changes
Stability dictates what excipients to be used,
storage condition, packaging and shelf-life of a
drug.
Drug degradation may reduce the quantity of the
therapeutic agent in the dosage form.
Toxic products may form during the decomposition
process.
The physical appearance of the dosage may
change due to aging
30. Stability in the GI fluid
Drugs that degrade in the GIT is not
suitable for oral administration
Formulation should protect the drug from
degradation in the GIT
Orally unstable drugs are administered by
other routes of administration including
nasal, parenteral or pulmonary route.
31. Routes of drug degradation
Hydrolysis or solvolysis
Decomposes in the presence of solvents
Oxidation
React with atmospheric oxygen under the ambient
condition
Photolysis
Degrades in normal sunlight or room light
32. Routes of drug instability
Dehydration
Removal of water from the
molecule changes the
structure or physical
properties of the molecule.
Isomerization
Drugs convert into their
optical or geometrical
isomers. e.g. epinephrine
33. Hygroscopicity
Hygroscopic substances
Absorb moistures from the air
Deliquescent substances
Absorb moisture from the air to the extent that they
liquefy partially or wholly
Efflorescent substances
Substances become powdery and liberate their water of
crystallization
Drugs that possess any of these physical properties may
not be suitable for solid dosage forms.
34. Wettability
The tendency of a drug to get wet when it
comes in contact with the solvent
Influence the drug granulation process,
penetration of dissolution fluids into tablets
and granules, solubility and dispersibility
Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) increases
wettability
35. Let’s take the poll
The presence of water causes solvolysis (T/F).
In dehydration, drugs absorb molecules of water
from the atmosphere (T/F).
Deliquescent substances become powdery by
releasing the water of crystallization (T/F).