Insoluble Drug Delivery Platform

The insoluble drug delivery (IDD®) platform consists of three major enabling technologies to address formulation and delivery problems originating from poor solubility of biologically active compounds.

These IDD® technologies feature easily dispersible narrow particle size distribution dosage forms derived from surface modified micrometre to submicrometre sized particles or droplets stabilised by surface modifiers, preferably phospholipids.

The IDD® platform is different to other drug delivery systems as its effectiveness is dependent on the physicochemical properties of the drug rather than the chemical structure and reactivity.

Insoluble Drug Delivery Approaches:

IDD®-P (MicroParticle)
A microparticulate variation of the IDD® drug delivery system, which consists of a pure solid drug in the core of the particle.
IDD®-D formulations (MicroDroplet)
The core is constituted of essentially liquid drug substance.

IDD®-P and IDD®-D formulations are produced by application of high shear, cavitation or impaction (e.g., attrition, homogenisation, microfluidisation, milling, ultrasonication, etc.) to reduce the drug particle size in the presence of phospholipids (and/or other surface modifiers) that associate at the freshly generated drug surface. A particle size reduction from approximately 100–200 µm to about 1 µm is achieved resulting in a very homogeneous and stable formulation.

IDD®-SE (Self-Emulsifying)
The IDD®-SE technology constitutes a special class of the IDD® systems due to their production. The particles of IDD®-P and IDD®-D formulations result from application of a physical or mechanical process. On the other hand, surface stabilised micrometre to submicrometre sized particles or droplets are self generated when a dosage form containing IDD®-SE formulation is exposed to an aqueous medium such as those present in gastro-intestinal or vascular compartments.

Benefits of IDD® Formulated Drugs

IDD® technologies can address insoluble drug delivery problems across various dosage forms, including oral, topical and pulmonary. The principal inert ingredients used in IDD® formulations are biocompatible and have been previously accepted by the US FDA. IDD® formulations can offer the following benefits:

Lower toxicity formulations
Sustained-release depot formulations
Improved oral bioavailability
Oral, intravenous or ophthalmic formulations of drugs that currently are available only in other dosage forms
High drug payloads

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