A Systematic Study of Molecular Interactions of Anionic Drugs with a Dimethylaminoethyl Methacrylate Copolymer Regarding Solubility Enhancement

The methacrylate-copolymer Eudragit EPO (EPO) has raised interest in solubility enhancement of anionic drugs. Effects on aqueous drug solubility at rather low polymer concentrations are barely known despite their importance upon dissolution and dilution of oral dosage forms. We provide evidence for substantial enhancement (factor 4–230) of aqueous solubility of poorly water-soluble anionic drugs induced by low (0.1–5% (w/w)) concentration of EPO for a panel of seven acidic crystalline drugs. Diffusion data (determined by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) indicate that the solubility increasing effect monitored by quantitative ultraperformance liquid chromatography was caused primarily by molecular API polymer interactions in the bulk liquid phase. Residual solid API remained unaltered as tested by X-ray powder diffraction. The solubility enhancement (SE) revealed a significant rank correlation (rSpearman = −0.83) with rDiffAPI, where SE and rDiffAPI are defined ratios of solubility and diffusion...