Self-nanoemulsifying powders for improved oral delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs.

Abstract

Even today oral administration of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is the preferred choice for both pharmaceutical industry and patients principally due to better patient compliance, ease of administration and economical in terms of production [1,2]. However, recently it has been estimated that many (40–70%) orally active new drug entities are suffering with low oral bioavailability due to poor water solubility, lipophilic nature, low permeability, high first pass metabolism and P-gp efflux or combinations thereof [3]. In view of the fact that in many instances the drug dissolution step is observed to be the rate-limiting factor for drug absorption. In this context suitable formulation development can be a functional approach which would improve the dissolution and thus the oral bioavailability of such molecules [4–7]. Over the past few decades, various lipidbased drug delivery systems were developed to improve the oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble compounds. In the recent past, self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS) with particular emphasis on selfnanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDS) has become the most popular approach for incorporation of poorly soluble drugs. The specific meritorious features of SNEDDS include notable improvement in solubility, dissolution rate, permeability, reduced gut wall metabolism, reduced P-gp efflux, bypass of extensive hepatic first-pass effect by stimulation of lymphatic transport and lowering intra-/inter-subject variations in GI absorption [8].