Coprocessing of Nevirapine and Stavudine by Spray Drying

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to coprocess 2 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), nevirapine (NVP) and stavudine (STV), by spray drying technique to overcome the respective problems of poor solubility and poor content uniformity. The coprocessed product (NVP-STV CP) and untreated APIs were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size, surface area analysis, compressibility, and solubility. Coprocessing enhanced NVP solubility by ∼1.5 fold and provided uniform distribution of low-dose STV in the formulation composite. Phase solubility studies elucidated the mechanism of enhanced NVP solubility. The coprocessed product was stable under accelerated stability conditions of 40°C/75% relative humidity (RH) for 3 months. The coprocessed product was formulated into 3 drug fixed dose combination (FDC) tablets with lamivudine (LMV), which gave an enhanced in vitro NVP drug release compared with the control formulation. Spray drying as a coprocessing technique optimally utilized the individual components of the antiretroviral FDC tablets and synergistically enhanced the performance attributes.

Keywords:

• nevirapine
• stavudine
• lamivudine
• coprocessed APIs
• dissolution enhancement