Development of novel spray dried dispersion formulations to improve oral and pulmonary delivery

Whilst the oral route has always been the preferred option for drug delivery, the inhaled route is attractive both for systemically and locally acting active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Formulation challenges present for both routes however. For example, doses via the inhaled route are often limited to few milligrams due to difficulties in delivering larger doses, whilst for the oral route, the limiting factor for drug absorption and systemic bioavailability is often the API's water solubility.

These limitations can potentially be overcome by designing carriers that can improve water solubility, and which can be loaded with larger amounts of API. Preparation of carriers for API delivery will be based on novel technologies established at the University of Reading and by working in collaboration with Quotient Sciences. Key to the approach is the use of co-crystals (crystalline solids of API and carrier molecules) to modify the API's physicochemical properties. For pulmonary delivery this will have the potential to improve the aerosol properties that subsequently maximise API deposition in the lung. For oral delivery we will look to explore the potential to improve drug solubility. One advantage of this approach is the elimination of any chemical modification of the API meaning this technology can potentially be delivered to market in a relatively short period. It has the potential to have a significant impact on many urgent health issues, such as bacterial resistance, cancers and other lung conditions. Co-crystals will be produced using simple-to-complex processes (e.g. spray drying) and will be followed by extensive physicochemical characterisation. The successful candidate will emerge with a set of skills highly relevant to academia and industry.