A recent, first of its kind study from University of Petra in Jordan describes the formation of room temperature therapeutic deep eutectic solvent (THEDES) of RIS, an antipsychotic drug that is used in the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and irritability in children and adolescents with autism.
RIS is commercially available as a conventional or disintegrating tablet, oral liquid solution and long-acting intramuscular injection. The findings show that creating a transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) for RIS may help improve its bioavailability, which is typically low. The conversion of the active pharmaceutical agent (API) into liquid form using deep eutectic solvents (DES) to form THEDES has been reported to have many formulation advantages, including enhanced skin permeation for transdermal drug delivery.
The study, aimed at enhancing the skin permeability of RIS using eutectic systems, enabled researchers to achieve the formation of room temperature THEDES of RIS and some fatty acids using a simple method for preparation – potentially opening up opportunities for formulation innovation for this important pharmaceutical drug.
Freeze drying microscopy (FDM) can be used to determine the crystallization, collapse and eutectic temperatures of pharmaceutical solutions intended to freeze dry. In this study, FDM was successfully used to follow the eutectic phase changes for the THEDES of RIS. These changes were captured using a Linkam FDCS 196 varying temperature control stage.
“Eutectic systems’ phase changes are temperature dependant, which we were able to control and monitor with the Linkam FDCS 196 stage. The stage provided valuable information regarding the phase change and transitions the drug undergoes as a function of temperature, clarifying the interpretation of the differential thermal analysis results,” said Faisal T. Al-Akayleh, associate professor at the University of Petra.
“We are pleased that the FDCS 196 stage played an important role in the development of a novel liquid pharmaceutical formulation of RIS to overcome problems of poor drug solubility, dissolution and permeation. Hopefully, this work will lead to new formulations of RIS that will benefit patients around the world. The FDCS 196 is used in a wide range of research, from increasing the shelf life of drugs and vaccines, to food processing and preservation,” said Duncan Stacey, sales and marketing director, Linkam Scientific Instruments.
For more information, visit linkam.co.uk/freeze-drying
To read the full research article visit link.springer.com/article/10.1208/s12249-020-01844-4
