Concurrent Antisolvent Electrospraying: A Novel Continuous Crystallization Technique

Abstract

Pharmaceutical co-crystals (CCs) are multicomponent materials that enable the development of novel therapeutic products by enhancing the properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients, such as solubility, permeability and bioavailability. Currently, CCs are a commercial reality; nonetheless, their industrial production remains a challenge due to problems related to scale up, control and mode of preparation, which usually relies on batch production rather than continuous. This paper describes the implementation of a concurrent coaxial antisolvent electrospray (Co-E), as a new manufacturing technique, for the synthesis of CCs in a rapid, continuous and controlled manner. The features of Co-E were sized against other co-crystallization methods such as antisolvent crystallization, neat and liquid assisted grinding. Three pairs of amino acids were used as model compounds to demonstrate the features of this new system. The Co-E displayed exclusive product characteristics, including spherical particle morphology and enhanced CC formation. This technique exhibited robustness against process disturbances, displaying consistent product characteristics. Co-E represents a new alternative for the reliable production of CCs and other pharmaceutical products.

Keywords: Amino acids; Antisolvent crystallization; Coaxial electrospray; Multicomponent systems; Powder technology.