Formulation of ionic liquid APIs via spray drying processes to enable conversion into single and two-phase solid forms.

Abstract Ionic liquid (IL) forms of drugs are increasingly being explored to address problems presented by poorly water-soluble drugs and solid-state stability. However, before ILs of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can be routinely incorporated into oral solid dosage forms (OSDs), challenges surrounding their ease of handling and manufacture must be addressed. To this end a framework for transforming API-ILs into solid forms at high loadings based on spray encapsulation using an immiscible polymer has recently been demonstrated. The current work demonstrates that this framework can be applied to a broad range of newly synthesized low glass transition temperature (Tg) API-ILs. Furthermore, the work explores a second novel approach to solidification of API-ILs based on polymer-API-IL miscibility that, to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously demonstrated. Modulated differential scanning calorimetry (mDSC) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that it was possible to produce spray dried solid materials, at acceptable loadings and yields for OSD applications in the form of both two-phase phase encapsulated systems and single phase amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs). This was achieved by the appropriate selection of an API-IL insoluble polymer (ethyl cellulose) for phase separated systems, or a miscible polymer with an exceptionally high Tg (the polysaccharide, maltodextrin) for the ASDs. Both approaches successfully overcame the Tg suppression associated with room temperature ILs. This work represents the first step to understanding the fundamental critical physical attributes of these systems to facilitate a more mechanistic methodology for their design.