Modulation of the powder properties of lamotrigine by crystal forms

Abstract

The mechanical properties of powders determine the ease of manufacture and ultimately the quality of the oral solid dosage forms. Although poor mechanical properties of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) can be mitigated by using suitable excipients in a formulation, the effectiveness of that approach is limited for high dose drugs or multidrug tablets. In this context, improving the mechanical properties of the APIs through solid form optimisation is a good strategy to address such a challenge. This work explores the powder and tableting properties of various lamotrigine (LAM) solid forms with the aim to facilitate direct compression by overcoming the poor tabletability of LAM. The two drug-drug crystals of LAM with nicotinamide and valproic acid demonstrate superior flowability and tabletability over LAM. The improved powder properties are rationalised by structure analysis using energy framework, scanning electron microscopy, and Heckel analysis.

Keywords: Cocrystal; Crystal engineering; Direct compaction; High drug load; Multidrug; Solid form optimisation; Tableting.