Preformulation studies of dovitinib free base: Solubility, lipophilicity and stability.

Dovitinib has been investigated as an anti-tumor drug due to its ability to inhibit multiple receptor tyrosine kinases. Dovitinib free base has a poor water solubility leading to poor absorption. Salts and lipid-based formulations have been used to improve drug availability. Here, we investigated the physiochemical properties of the dovitinib free base in the presence of some pharmaceutical excipients. We sought to study the effect of acidic counterions on the aqueous solubility and lipophilicity of dovitinib and how pH, buffer species, and cyclodextrin (CD) influenced dovitinib stability. pH-solubility studies were performed by titration against five different acids. Aqueous solubility of dovitinib salt depended on the counterion. Lactic acid greatly increased the aqueous solubility of dovitinib. The counterion effect on the solubility was also investigated in the aqueous complexing media. Unexpected synergistic solubilization was found with γ-CD/phosphoric acid and γ-CD/maleic acid. The counterion did not affect the lipophilicity of dovitinib at physiological pH. Accelerated degradation of dovitinib was carried out at high temperature. Stability was studied across a range of pH values, buffer species and in the presence of two CDs. Dovitinib was most stable at pH 4 in the phosphate buffer species. γ-CD stabilized the drug at relatively low pH.

Interaction of Native Cyclodextrins and Their Hydroxypropylated Derivatives with Carbamazepine in Aqueous Solution. Evaluation of Inclusion Complexes and Aggregates Formation.

A detailed comprehensive study on how the formation of soluble and insoluble carbamazepine/cyclodextrins (CBZ/CD) complexes (with consequent changes in the solid-phase composition) depends on the CD structure is not yet available. Moreover, the study of possible influence of this drug on the tendency of CDs and their complexes to self-aggregate is still lacking. Phase-solubility studies demonstrated that CDs and CBZ form a range of soluble (AL-type: αCD, ßCD, and hydroxypropylated CDs) and insoluble (BS-type: γCD) complexes depending on CD used. HPßCD proved to be the best CD solubilizer for CBZ forming the most stable complex with highest apparent solubility, whereas γCD was shown to be the best native CD. For the native CDs, CBZ solubilization increases with increasing CD cavity diameter (αCD ≪ ßCD < γCD). Solid phases collected from phase-solubility studies were characterized by Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray powder diffraction to elucidate their composition and crystalline structure. They provided similar conclusions being overall supportive of phase-solubility, osmolality, and permeation studies results. Solid CBZ was the only detected component for AL-type profiles over the CD concentration range studied, whereas precipitation of poorly soluble CBZ/γCD complexes (BS-type) was observed (i.e., at and beyond plateau region). Osmometry and permeation studies were applied to evaluate the effect of CBZ on the aggregate formation and also to elucidate their influence on CD complex solubility and permeation profile. Permeation method was shown to be the most effective method to detect and evaluate aggregate formation in aqueous γCD and HPßCD solutions containing CBZ. CBZ did not affect the HPßCD tendency to self-aggregate but CBZ did modify the aggregation behavior of γCD decreasing the apparent critical aggregation concentration value from 4.2% (w/v) (in pure aqueous γCD solution) to 2.5% (w/v) (when CBZ was present).

2-Hydroxypropyl-ß-Cyclodextrin Aggregates: Identification and Development of Analytical Techniques.

It is extremely important for pharmaceutical formulators to have analytical methodology that provides efficient detection and quantification of HPßCD aggregates. Five different methods were then evaluated for their potential to detect these aggregates and to determine critical aggregation concentration (cac): osmometry, viscometry, tensiometry, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and permeability studies. Overall, tensiometry was an inadequate method with which to study HPßCD aggregation, since the addition of HPßCD to water resulted in only minor changes in surface tension. Osmolality and viscosity studies have shown that for HPßCD, solute⁻solvent interactions are the main contributors for the observed deviation from ideality. These deviations might be related to the presence of aggregates. The DLS method proved to be an effective method with which to detect HPßCD aggregates and estimate their hydrodynamic diameter, although it presented some limitations concerning their quantification. In terms of the assessed methods, permeation studies were shown to be the best to study HPßCD aggregation phenomena, since they were the only method where the detection of aggregates and the determination of apparent cac values was possible. Also, it was the least invasive for the HPßCD samples and the method that provided more conclusive data. Results suggested that HPßCD, as expected, has less tendency to form aggregates than ßCD.

Self-Assembly of α-Cyclodextrin and ß-Cyclodextrin: Identification and Development of Analytical Techniques.

Recently, it has been shown that cyclodextrins (CDs) self-assemble in aqueous solutions to form aggregates. Such aggregation can give rise to formation of particulate matter in aqueous solutions. However, the analytical methodology available to detect and quantify these aggregates is still quite inadequate. Here, 5 different methods for evaluation of CD aggregate formation and determination of the critical aggregation concentration are evaluated: osmometry, viscosity, surface tension, dynamic light scattering, and permeability studies. Both the viscosity and surface tension methods applied were inadequate for aggregate detection, whereas the osmometry method can be used to study CD aggregation but with some limitations. Dynamic light scattering has also some limitations although it can be applied to detect CD aggregates and to estimate their hydrodynamic diameter. Overall, permeation studies proved to be the best method to detect and determine critical aggregation concentration. These results suggested that ß-cyclodextrin (ßCD) has higher tendency to aggregate than α-cyclodextrin (αCD). Filtration of αCD and ßCD solutions affected the aggregate size distribution by breaking larger aggregates in to smaller ones that then reassembled to regenerate the larger ones upon storage. The osmolality studies showed that in aqueous αCD and ßCD solutions, solute-solute interactions are favored over solute-solvent interactions with consequent CD aggregate formation.

Self-Assembly of Cyclodextrins and Their Complexes in Aqueous Solutions.

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are enabling pharmaceutical excipients that can be found in numerous pharmaceutical products worldwide. Because of their favorable toxicologic profiles, CDs are often used in toxicologic and phase I assessments of new drug candidates. However, at relatively high concentrations, CDs can spontaneously self-assemble to form visible microparticles in aqueous mediums and formation of such visible particles may cause product rejections. Formation of subvisible CD aggregates are also known to affect analytical results during product development. How and why these CD aggregates form is largely unknown, and factors contributing to their formation are still not elucidated. The physiochemical properties of CDs are very different from simple amphiphiles and lipophilic molecules that are known to self-assemble and form aggregates in aqueous solutions but very similar to those of linear oligosaccharides. In general, negligible amounts of aggregates are formed in pure CD solutions, but the aggregate formation is greatly enhanced on inclusion complex formation, and the extent of aggregation increases with increasing CD concentration. The diameter of the aggregates formed is frequently less than about 300 nm, but visible aggregates can also be formed under certain conditions.

The self-assemble of natural cyclodextrins in aqueous solutions: Application of miniature permeation studies for critical aggregation concentration (cac) determinations.

Permeation techniques can be applied to determine the critical aggregation concentration (cac) of natural cyclodextrins (CDs) in aqueous solutions although the method is both laborious and time consuming. In the present study, the permeation technique was modified and the influence of osmotic pressure, sampling time, CD concentration and molecular weight-cut off (MWCO) of the membrane were investigated in two different permeation units, that is Franz diffusion cells and Slide-A-Lyzer™ MINI Dialysis. While both the osmotic pressure and CD concentration affect the steady state flux in both permeation units, effects of sampling time and the MWCO of the mounted membrane were only observed in the Franz diffusion cells. The osmotic effect was negligible in the Slide-A-Lyzer™ MINI Dialysis units. The modified permeation technique using Slide-A-Lyzer™ MINI Dialysis units was then used to determine the cac of natural CDs in water. The cac of αCD, ßCD and γCD was 1.19±0.17, 0.69±0.05 and 0.93±0.04% (w/v), respectively. The results indicated that the cac values depended on their intrinsic solubility. Moreover, the cac value of γCD in aqueous hydrocortisone/γCD inclusion complex solution was identical to the γCD cac value determined in pure water.

Development of a biomimetic phospholipid vesicle-based permeation assay for the estimation of intestinal drug permeability.

Permeability is a crucial property of orally administered drugs. Therefore, in drug discovery, it is important to employ methods suitable for rapidly and reliably screening the permeability of large numbers of new drug candidates. The phospholipid vesicle-based permeation assay (PVPA), a model consisting of a tight layer of liposomes immobilized on a filter, offers potential advantages unmet by other methods and has been successfully used in permeability testing of novel active substances as well as formulations. In this study, the PVPA was developed into a more robust, biomimetic model by employing a lipid composition matching that of the intestinal permeation barrier and performing the experiments at the more biologically relevant pH 6.2. As expected, positively charged basic compounds demonstrated increased permeability through the negatively charged biomimetic barriers, and the degree of correct classification according to in vivo absorption was comparable between the original PVPA and the biomimetic PVPA. The biomimetic PVPA further proved to be tremendously more robust toward the presence of tensides compared with the original PVPA; this is a promising finding that renders the biomimetic PVPA an enhanced ability to estimate the permeability of poorly soluble compounds. Hence, the PVPA model developed in this study has evolved an important step forward.