Enhancing the dissolution rate of poorly soluble drug Febuxostat using spray dried amorphous solid dispersion technique

Introduction: Febuxostat belongs to Biopharmaceutical classification system (BCS) class II drugs, which have low solubility and high permeability. Amorphous solid dispersion is one of the techniques which can be useful to improve solubility and powder characteristics. Objective: To optimize the concentration of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers to improve the dissolution rate and solubility of febuxostat tablets. Methods: The amorphous solid dispersion of febuxostat was prepared by spray drying method using Kolliphor P237 (1:2). This amorphous solid dispersion was further used to compress the tablet. To improve solubility and dissolution rate, a full factorial design was applied to optimize the critical concentration of Kollidon SR and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC K4M). The prepared tablets were characterized by pre-compression and post-compression parameters. Result: The rate of drug release was sustained by formulating an amorphous solid dispersion technique. The optimized batch (FSRT-OB) was found to be fit for release average 93.30 % of the drug in sustain release manner up to 12hrs. The release kinetic data suggests that the drug release was controlled by combination of diffusion and chain relaxation mechanism. The optimized concentration for Kollidon SR and HPMC K4Mwas found to be 38.50 % and 7.72 % respectively. Conclusion: Amorphous solid dispersion technique is useful to enhance solubility, dissolution rate, and bioavailability of the Febuxostat tablet.