Solid Dispersion: An Alternative Technique for Bioavailability Enhancement of Poorly Soluble Drugs

Formulation of solid dispersion in water-soluble carriers has been widely researched over the past four decades for solubility and related bioavailability enhancement. Despite 40 years of active research, there has not been much products in market based on this technique. The main reason for this being stability and scale up problems associated with this method, as reported by several authors. Strategies used for overcoming these problems and factors affecting formation of solid dispersion such as glass transition temperature and interaction of drug with polymer have been dealt conceptually in this review. The advent of surface-active carriers such as Gelucires, Poloxamers, and lipid-based carriers has given a new dimension for the successful development of solid dispersions by combating the problems associated with stability and also giving products with enhanced dissolution rate. Therefore, the article also discusses properties of such carriers that are being unraveled lately for formulation of solid dispersion. Characterization of solid dispersion to detect the change from crystalline to amorphous states and vice versa is an important tool for its formulation and determination of stability; thus, all the methods that are available for characterizations are discussed in this article with emphasis on the principle of the technique and its application.