The influence of crushing amorphous solid dispersion dosage forms on the in-vitro dissolution kinetics.

Solid dosage forms of amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) have rarely been assessed for their crushability, although it might possibly be a more frequent practice than thought to facilitate oral administration in several clinical conditions (e.g. dysphagia) when no oral liquids of the same drug are available. Nevertheless, there are concerns that contraindicate these formulations' modification by grinding. For example, amorphous-amorphous phase separation, induction of crystallization, decreasing particle sizes, etc. might occur during grinding without knowing the implications on bioavailability. Hence, in this study, Sporanox® (itraconazole), Intelence® (etravirine), Noxafil® (posaconazole) and Norvir® (ritonavir), were selected as "model" enabling formulations (based on ASD) to evaluate if this concern was justified. Their assessment in simple and biorelevant media by two-stage in-vitro drug-release testing was performed which resulted in strong suspicion that pulverization is contradicted for some of these formulations. Despite differences were observed, uncertainty remains on the clinical relevance of these data as by golden standard it should still be confirmed by bioequivalence trials.