Effect of Differential Surface Anisotropy on Dissolution Behavior of Fenofibrate Crystal Habits: Comparative Study using USP Type 2 and Type 4 Dissolution Apparatuses

The solid-state properties of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) have significant impact on its dissolution performance. In the present study, two different crystal habits viz. rod and plate shape of form I of FEN were evaluated for dissolution profile using USP Type 2 and Type 4 apparatuses. Molecular basis of differential dissolution performance of different crystal habits was investigated. Rod (FEN-R) and plate (FEN-P) shaped crystal habits of Form I of FEN were generated using anti-solvent crystallization method. Despite the same polymorphic form and similar particle size distribution, FEN-P demonstrated higher dissolution performance than FEN-R. Crystal face indexation and electrostatic potential (ESP) map provided information on differential relative abundance of various facets and their molecular environment. In FEN-R, the dominant facet (001) is hydrophobic due to the exposure of chlorophenyl moiety. Whereas, in FEN-P the dominant facet (01–1) was hydrophilic due to the presence of chlorine and ester carbonyl groups. Deeper insight on the impact of different facets on dissolution behavior was obtained by energy framework analysis by unveiling strength of intermolecular interactions along various crystallographic facets. Moreover, type 4 apparatus provided higher discriminatory ability over USP Type 2 apparatus, in probing the crystal habit induced differential dissolution performance of FEN. The findings of this study emphasize that crystal habit should be considered as an important critical material attribute (CMA) during formulation development of FEN and due considerations should be given to the selection of the appropriate dissolution testing set-up for establishing in vitro-in vivo correlation.