A meticulous overview on drying-based (spray-, freeze-, and spray-freeze) particle engineering approaches for pharmaceutical technologies

Abstract

Drying is an indispensable operation in the preparation of pharmaceutical powders and always remained one of the energetic tasks in the pharmaceutical industry. Improving the stability, solubility, and dissolution of pharmaceutical products are being prime objectives of the drying process, intending to produce the products loving the dry state. Although there are voluminous literatures available concerning drying operations, there is scant information available regarding the applicability of drying in drug delivery and process scale-up. The current communication embodies the different particle engineering technologies of drying viz. spray-, freeze-, and spray-freeze drying. In addition, potential uses of drying in the taste masking, and the development of inhalable powders presented briefly. Recent advancements in the drying of novel drug delivery systems is the major focus of the present review. In our opinion, the commercial aspects, regulatory guidelines, and scale-up strategies presented herein provide an opportunity to readers, researchers, and industrialists to ruin the critical issues during drying operations and aid in developing quality pharmaceutical technologies.

Keywords:

• Particle engineering
• shell formation
• spray drying
• freeze drying
• solubility
• crystallinity

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful to the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New Delhi, for providing the financial support, in terms of Empowerment and Equity Opportunities for Excellence in Science (EEQ/2018/000649).