Production of Stable Drug Nanospensions Using Microfluidics Reaction Technology

Many hydrophobic drugs are difficult to formulate in ways that ensure high bioavailability. The formation of stable drug nanosuspensions is an attractive formulation strategy that does not limit the dosage amount. Microfluidics Reaction Technology (MRT) was used to produce drug nanosuspensions via solvent and anti-solvent crystallization. The core of this technology is a continuous and scalable microreactor based on impinging jets. Inside the reactor, liquid reactants encounter highly turbulent conditions and interact at the nanometer level. Several Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) were used to demonstrate the technology. The particle sizes of the suspensions depended on the particular API, surfactant(s), supersaturation, and energy dissipation levels expressed as process pressure. The median particle sizes of suspensions produced by MRT varied in the range of 50-767 nm. The suspensions were stable with a single exception. For certain APIs the process efficiency exceeded 80%.