Tailoring the Sizes and PDIs of Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Formulations with High Pressure Homogenisation

Synopsis

High-pressure homogenization is commonly used by pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries globally to tailor the sizes and PDIs of various formulations (liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), nanoemulsions, and nanosuspensions) at a commercial scale. The current study aims to highlight the case studies for different formulations and their appropriate processing conditions to tailor the sizes and PDIs with enhanced stability and good drug entrapment efficiency.
Various trials were performed to formulate liposomes, SLNs, nanoemulsions, and nanosuspensions using model drugs (hydrophilic & hydrophobic). A comparison of piston gap (PG) and microchannel devices (MCDs) was performed at varying processing conditions (pressures/number of passes). In the case of MCDs, different microchannels (Y & Z) were compared to check their efficiency for tailoring the desired particle size distributions with reliability.
In some of the cases, MCD results were found to be better than PG and in others; a combination of PG and MCD demonstrated significant results with desired particle size distributions and drug entrapment efficiency. But both of these technologies (PG & MCD) have their significance, as PG is less likely to be blocked than MCD, but the issue of MCD blocking can be overcome by back flushing. The viscosity of the formulation is also one of the major factors in HPH processing of the formulations, but the use of a pressure feed vessel may help to some extent in resolving this issue; similarly for processing of SLNs thermocirculator is attached to the assembly to achieve desired results.