Redispersible drug nanoparticles prepared without dispersant by electro-spray drying

Abstract

The redispersibility of drug nanoparticles is critical in the formulation development of oral solid dosage forms from drug nanosuspensions. To address this issue, various drying techniques such as, spray drying, fluidized bed drying, etc. have been developed based on freeze drying. In this work, redispersible dried powders were successfully prepared from drug nanosuspensions without the use of dispersant by applying an electrical potential to the nozzle during the spray drying process. The applied voltage, not the concentration of the nanosuspension, was critical in determining the redispersibility. Despite the high electric field, the particle morphology and crystallinity were not dependent on the applied voltage, which suggests that the drug crystals were not damaged. This novel technique could broaden the applicability of spray drying technology and allow for novel formulations of drug nanoparticles.

Keywords::

• Spray drying
• nanosuspension
• nanocrystal
• redispersibility
• dry powder
• nanoparticle
• electrospraying

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant (#10035574) from the R&D Program funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Republic of Korea. Hwanki Ho would like to thank the Human Resource Training Project for Strategic Technology (MKE and KOTEF).

Declaration of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.