No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Abstract.Recommended best practices in monitoring of product status during pharmaceutical freeze drying are presented, focusing on methods that apply to both laboratory and production scale. With respect to product temperature measurement, sources of uncertainty associated with any type of measurement probe are discussed, as well as important differences between the two most common types of temperature-measuring instruments-thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors (RTD). Two types of pressure transducers are discussed-thermal conductivity-type gauges and capacitance manometers, with the Pirani gauge being the thermal conductivity-type gauge of choice. It is recommended that both types of pressure gauge be used on both the product chamber and the condenser for freeze dryers with an external condenser, and the reasoning for this recommendation is discussed. Developing technology for process monitoring worthy of further investigation is also briefly reviewed, including wireless product temperature monitoring, tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy at manufacturing scale, heat flux measurement, and mass spectrometry as process monitoring tools.KEY WORDS: heat flux measurement; mass spectrometry; pressure measurement; process analytical technology; temperature measurement; tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy.

We have investigated the physical stability of amorphous curcumin dispersions and the role of curcumin-polymer intermolecular interactions in delaying crystallization. Curcumin is an interesting model compound as it forms both intra and intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the crystal. A structurally diverse set of amorphous dispersion polymers was investigated; poly(vinylpyrrolidone), Eudragit E100, carboxymethyl cellulose acetate butyrate, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and HPMC-acetate succinate. Mid-infrared spectroscopy was used to determine and quantify the extent of curcumin-polymer interactions. Physical stability under different environmental conditions was monitored by powder X-ray diffraction. Curcumin chemical stability was monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Isolation of stable amorphous curcumin was difficult in the absence of polymers. Polymers proved to be effective curcumin crystallization inhibitors enabling the production of amorphous solid dispersions; however, the polymers showed very different abilities to inhibit crystallization during long-term storage. Curcumin intramolecular hydrogen bonding reduced the extent of its hydrogen bonding with polymers; hence most polymers were not highly effective crystallization inhibitors. Overall, polymers proved to be crystallization inhibitors, but inhibition was limited due to the intramolecular hydrogen bonding in curcumin, which leads to a decrease in the ability of the polymers to interact at a molecular level.

No abstract

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of second-order nonlinear imaging of chiral crystals (SONICC) to quantify crystallinity in drug–polymer blends, including solid dispersions. Second harmonic generation (SHG) can potentially exhibit scaling with crystallinity between linear and quadratic depending on the nature of the source, and thus, it is important to determine the response of pharmaceutical powders. Physical mixtures containing different proportions of crystalline naproxen and hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS) were prepared by blending and a dispersion was produced by solvent evaporation. A custom-built SONICC instrument was used to characterize the SHG intensity as a function of the crystalline drug fraction in the various samples. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Raman spectroscopy were used as complementary methods known to exhibit linear scaling. SONICC was able to detect crystalline drug even in the presence of 99.9 wt % HPMCAS in the binary mixtures. The calibration curve revealed a linear dynamic range with a R2 value of 0.99 spanning the range from 0.1 to 100 wt % naproxen with a root mean square error of prediction of 2.7%. Using the calibration curve, the errors in the validation samples were in the range of 5%–10%. Analysis of a 75 wt % HPMCAS–naproxen solid dispersion with SONICC revealed the presence of crystallites at an earlier time point than could be detected with PXRD and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, results from the crystallization kinetics experiment using SONICC were in good agreement with Raman spectroscopy and PXRD. In conclusion, SONICC has been found to be a sensitive technique for detecting low levels (0.1% or lower) of crystallinity, even in the presence of large quantities of a polymer.

Blends of polymers with complementary properties hold promise for addressing the diverse, demanding polymer performance requirements in amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs), but we lack comprehensive property understanding for blends of important ASD polymers. Herein, we prepare pairwise blends of commercially available polymers polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), the cationic acrylate copolymer Eudragit 100 (E100), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS), carboxymethyl cellulose acetate butyrate (CMCAB), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), and the new derivative cellulose acetate adipate propionate (CAAdP). This study identifies miscible binary blends that may find use, for example, in ASDs for solubility and bioavailability enhancement of poorly water-soluble drugs. Differential scanning calorimetry, FTIR spectroscopy, and film clarity were used to determine blend miscibility. Several polymer combinations including HPMCAS/PVP, HPMC/CMCAB, and PVP/HPMC appear to be miscible in all proportions. In contrast, blends of E100/PVP and E100/HPMC showed a miscibility gap. Combinations of water-soluble and hydrophobic polymers like these may permit effective balancing of ASD performance criteria such as release rate and polymer-drug interaction to prevent nucleation and crystal growth of poorly soluble drugs. Miscible polymer combinations described herein will enable further study of their drug delivery capabilities, and provide a potentially valuable set of ASD formulation tools.