A silica-supported solid dispersion of bifendate using supercritical carbon dioxide method with enhanced dissolution rate and oral bioavailability

Abstract

In this study, to enhance the dissolution rate and oral bioavailability of bifendate, a silica-supported solid dispersion (SD) of bifendate was prepared using supercritical carbon dioxide (ScCO2) technology. The properties of bifendate-silica SD were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (X-RD) and scanning electron microscopy. The pharmacokinetic study was carried out in beagle dogs using commercial bifendate dropping pills as a reference which is a conventional SD formulation of bifendate and PEG6000. A novel method of Ultra Performance Convergence Chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPC2™-MS/MS) method was applied to determine bifendate concentration in plasma. The amorphous state of bifendate in bifendate-silica SD was revealed in X-RD and DSC when the ratios of bifendate and silica were 1:15 and 1:19, respectively. In vitro dissolution rate was significantly improved with cumulative release of 67% within 20 min relative to 8% for the physical mixture of bifendate and silica, and which was also higher than the commercial dropping pill of 52%. After storage at 75% relative humidity (RH) for 10 d, no recrystallization was found and reduced dissolution rate was obtained due to the absorption of moisture. In pharmacokinetic study, Cmax and AUC0–t for bifendate-silica SD were 153.1 ng/ml and 979.8 ng h/ml, respectively. AUC0–t of bifendate-silica SDs was ∼1.6-fold higher than that of the commercial dropping pills. These results suggest that adsorbing bifendate onto porous silica via ScCO2 technique could be a feasible method to enhance oral bioavailability together with a higher dissolution rate.