Application of Hot Melt Extrusion for Poorly Water-Soluble Drugs: Limitations, Advances and Future Prospects

Title:Application of Hot Melt Extrusion for Poorly Water-Soluble Drugs: Limitations, Advances and Future Prospects

Volume: 20 Issue: 3

Author(s): Ming Lu, Zhefei Guo, Yongcheng Li, Huishi Pang, Ling Lin, Xu Liu, Xin Pan and Chuanbin Wu

Affiliation:

Keywords: Hot melt extrusion, amorphous solid dispersion, thermal degradation, recrystallization.

Abstract: Hot melt extrusion (HME) is a powerful technology to enhance the solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs by producing amorphous solid dispersions. Although the number of articles and patents about HME increased dramatically in the past twenty years, there are very few commercial products by far. The three main obstacles limiting the commercial application of HME are summarized as thermal degradation of heat-sensitive drugs at high process temperature, recrystallization of amorphous drugs during storage and dissolving process, and difficulty to obtain products with reproducible physicochemical properties. Many efforts have been taken in recent years to understand the basic mechanism underlying these obstacles and then to overcome them. This article reviewed and summarized the limitations, recent advances, and future prospects of HME.

Cite this article as:

Lu Ming, Guo Zhefei, Li Yongcheng, Pang Huishi, Lin Ling, Liu Xu, Pan Xin and Wu Chuanbin, Application of Hot Melt Extrusion for Poorly Water-Soluble Drugs: Limitations, Advances and Future Prospects, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2014; 20 (3) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/13816128113199990402