Hydrophobic Drug Solubilisation

Poorly soluble drugs have always been a challenge to the pharmaceutical industry. Today, it has been estimated that 40 % of new chemical entities fail in development because of adverse physical properties such as poor aqueous solubility. In this chapter, the authors look at the principals of drug solubility and dissolution and evaluate the use of drug nano-crystals and nano-size delivery systems such as liposomes, polymeric micelles and solid lipid nanoparticles in enhancing drug solubility. Additional benefits such as achieving site-specific delivery and facilitating cellular uptake are also discussed. The key advantages that nanotechnologies are able to offer and the challenges in the exploitation of these technologies are outlined with appropriate examples. Clinical experience is included to demonstrate the successful approach in using nanotechnologies for hydrophobic drug solubilisation.