Antisolvent vapor precipitation: the future of pulmonary drug delivery particle production?

Abstract

Pulmonary drug delivery requires particles with a fine and uniform size distribution, 1 – 5 µ hydrodynamic diameter, for targeted delivery and higher uptake within the pulmonary tract. The antisolvent vapor precipitation method is a new alternative method to generate particles with such characteristics. Development so far has shown that the technique is applicable to disaccharides (lactose), magnesium sulfate, hydrophobic and protein particles. The method may also be extended to generate fine encapsulation particles and to produce disaccharides (lactose) and protein particles blend in a single step.

Keywords::

• antisolvent
• precipitation
• spherical particles
• spray drying
• submicron
• uniform