CC BY 4.0 · Pharmaceutical Fronts 2024; 06(03): e265-e275
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1788984
Review Article

Development of Liquisolid Technology to Overcome Dissolution/Absorption Limitations of Oral Drugs

Huan Wang
1   Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
,
Xingwang Zhang
1   Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
2   State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Molecules and Druggability Assessment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Increasing influx of poorly water-soluble drugs poses a significant challenge to oral drug delivery. Conventional solubilization techniques such as solid dispersion and cyclodextrin inclusion, while capable of improving drug dissolution, suffer from a great predicament in subsequent formulation processing. A novel “powder solution technology,” the liquisolid technique, has come to the forefront in dealing with drug solubilization and formulation of oral “problem” drugs. The liquisolid technique involves the adsorption of liquid medications onto suitable carrier and coating materials, followed by conversion into free-flowing, dry-looking, and compressible powders. In the liquisolid system, the drug is dispersed in an almost molecular state, which greatly contributes to drug dissolution and absorption. This review aims to present the fundamentals of liquisolid technology and update the concept of liquisolid processing to expand its applications. The trend of modern drug discovery, drug solubilization approaches, application of liquisolid technology in formulation innovation, formulation composition, and design of liquisolid systems were discussed in detail. Special emphasis was placed on the application of liquisolid technology to improve the dissolution and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. Accumulating evidence shows that the liquisolid technology has immense potential to improve oral delivery and facilitate the secondary development of insoluble drugs.



Publication History

Received: 15 September 2023

Accepted: 24 July 2024

Article published online:
29 August 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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