Theoretical Considerations in Developing Amorphous Solid Dispersions

Before pursuing the laborious route of amorphous solid dispersion formulation and development, which is the topic of many of the subsequent chapters in this book, the formulation scientist would benefit from a priori knowledge whether the amorphous route is a viable one for a given drug and how much solubility improvement, and hence increase in bioavailability, can be expected, and what forms of solid dispersion have been developed in the past. In this chapter, we therefore initially define the various forms of solid dispersions, and then go on to discuss properties of pure drugs with respect to their glass-forming ability and glass stability. In the main parts of this chapter, we review theoretical approaches to determine amorphous drug polymer miscibility and crystalline drug polymer solubility, as a prerequisite to develop amorphous solid dispersions (glass solutions).