Pharmaceutical Co-Crystal Tablet Formulation: An Overview

Abstract

Poor aqueous solubility and low oral bioavailability of an active pharmaceutical ingredient are the
major constraints during the development of new product. Various approaches have been used for
enhancement of solubility of poorly aqueous soluble drugs, but success of these approaches depends
on physical and chemical nature of molecules being developed. The increase in the aqueous solubility
and physicochemical property of insoluble and slightly soluble drugs is major concern in
pharmaceutical formulations. Co crystals is an alternative approach based on crystal engineering to
enhance specific physicochemical and biopharmaceutical properties of active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs) when the approaches to salt or polymorph formation do not meet the expected
targets. A crystal engineering approach was used to design, develop a Co crystal of the API. Co
crystals are solid substances, which consist of few components mixed together. Co crystals are multi
component systems in which two components, an active pharmaceutical ingredient and a co former
were present in stoichiometric ratio and bonded together with non-covalent interactions or Hydrogen
bonding in the crystal lattice. There are a lot of ways of co crystals production and application. It is
shown that co crystals can be applied in medicine and pharmaceutical industry for improving
different properties such as dissolution rate, melting point, solubility, chemical stability etc.