Pharmaceutical nanotechnology: from the bench to the market

Background Nanotechnology is considered a new and rapidly emerging area in the pharmaceutical and medicinal field. Nanoparticles, as drug delivery systems, impart several advantages concerning improved efficacy as well as reduced adverse drug reactions. Main body Different types of nanosystems have been fabricated including carbon nanotubes, paramagnetic nanoparticles, dendrimers, nanoemulsions, etc. Physicochemical properties of the starting materials and the selected method of preparation play a significant aspect in determining the shape and characteristics of the developed nanoparticles. Dispersion of preformed polymers, coacervation, polymerization, nano-spray drying and supercritical fluid technology are among the most extensively used techniques for the preparation of nanocarriers. Particle size, surface charge, surface hydrophobicity and drug release are the main factors affecting nanoparticles physical stability and biological performance of the incorporated drug. In clinical practice, many nanodrugs have been used for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications and are being investigated for various indications in clinical trials. Nanoparticles are used for the cure of kidney diseases, tuberculosis, skin conditions, Alzheimer’s disease, different types of cancer as well as preparation of COVID-19 vaccines. Conclusion In this review, we will confer the advantages, types, methods of preparation, characterization methods and some of the applications of nano-systems.

Contributions of supercritical fluid technology for advancing decellularization and postprocessing of viable biological materials

This review summarizes relevant literature on scCO2-assisted decellularization, and discusses major topics dominating the field, such as mechanism of action, effect of cosolvent and operational parameters, and range of results across different works.

Nanocrystals- A substantial platform for drug delivery applications.

Poor solubility of a drug is one of the major concerns in drug delivery. Many strategies have been employed for solving this problem, but there are still some deficiencies with current strategies, such as low drug loading, high toxicity, poor stability, potential drug loss during storage and complex manufacturing method. By formulating nanocrystals, problems associated with the delivery of drugs with low water or lipid solubility can be addressed. Unlike polymeric nanoparticles and lipidic nanoparticles, they are not a reservoir or matrix system. Nanocrystals are colloidal suspensions of nanosized particles stabilized by polymeric or electrostatic stabilization. They can be prepared by Top-down or Bottom-up approaches. Some of the methods for the preparation of nanocrystals are nanoprecipitation, media milling, high-pressure homogenization, emulsions and microemulsions as templates, supercritical fluid technology and co-grinding. They can be used for oral, intravenous, ocular, inhalation, intramuscular drug delivery and drug targeting.

Protein Hydrolysis by Subcritical Water: A New Perspective on Obtaining Bioactive Peptides

The importance of bioactive peptides lies in their diverse applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries. In addition, they have been projected as allies in the control and prevention of certain diseases due to their associated antioxidant, antihypertensive, or hypoglycemic activities, just to mention a few. Obtaining these peptides has been performed traditionally by fermentation processes or enzymatic hydrolysis. In recent years, the use of supercritical fluid technology, specifically subcritical water (SW), has been positioned as an efficient and sustainable alternative to obtain peptides from various protein sources. This review presents and discusses updated research reports on the use of subcritical water to obtain bioactive peptides, its hydrolysis mechanism, and the experimental designs used for the study of effects from factors involved in the hydrolysis process. The aim was to promote obtaining peptides by green technology and to clarify perspectives that still need to be explored in the use of subcritical water in protein hydrolysis.

Recent and Relevant Methodology in the Advancement of Solid Dispersion

Most of the promising drugs in development channels are poorly water-soluble drugs which limit formulation approaches, clinical application because of their low dissolution and bioavailability. And the major current challenges of the pharmaceutical industry are apropos strategies that improve the water solubility of drugs. Solid dispersion has been considered one of the major evolutions in overcoming these issues with several successfully marketed products. Though solid dispersion has been outlined as an efficient drug delivery system, the design of specific dosage forms for pharmaceutical therapy is necessary to improve the solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. Solid dispersion can be prepared by several methods such as solvent evaporation, melting, and supercritical fluid technology. This review intends to provide an updated overview of the recent trends over the past few years in solid dispersion preparation techniques and polymer used. Along with the various pharmaceutical strategies and future visions for the solubilization of poorly water-soluble drugs Keywords: Solid dispersion, Bioavailability, Solubility, Dissolution parameters, Polymeric carrier

Biopesticide Encapsulation Using Supercritical CO2: A Comprehensive Review and Potential Applications

As an alternative to synthetic pesticides, natural chemistries from living organisms, are not harmful to nontarget organisms and the environment, can be used as biopesticides, nontarget. However, to reduce the reactivity of active ingredients, avoid undesired reactions, protect from physical stress, and control or lower the release rate, encapsulation processes can be applied to biopesticides. In this review, the advantages and disadvantages of the most common encapsulation processes for biopesticides are discussed. The use of supercritical fluid technology (SFT), mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), to encapsulate biopesticides is highlighted, as they reduce the use of organic solvents, have simpler separation processes, and achieve high-purity particles. This review also presents challenges to be surpassed and the lack of application of SFT for biopesticides in the published literature is discussed to evaluate its potential and prospects.

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide as a Green Alternative to Achieve Drug Complexation with Cyclodextrins

Cyclodextrins are widely used in pharmaceutics to enhance the bioavailability of many drugs. Conventional drug/cyclodextrin complexation techniques suffer from many drawbacks, such as a high residual content of toxic solvents in the formulations, the degradation of heat labile drugs and the difficulty in controlling the size and morphology of the product particles. These can be overcome by supercritical fluid technology thanks to the outstanding properties of supercritical CO2 (scCO2) such as its mild critical point, its tunable solvent power, and the absence of solvent residue after depressurization. In this work the use of scCO2 as an unconventional medium to achieve the complexation with native and substituted cyclodextrins of over 50 drugs, which belong to different classes, are reviewed. This can be achieved with different approaches such as the “supercritical solvent impregnation” and “particle-formation” techniques. The different techniques are discussed to point out how they affect the complexation mechanism and efficiency, the physical state of the drug as well as the particle size distribution and morphology, which finally condition the release kinetics and drug bioavailability. When applicable, the results obtained for the same drug with various cyclodextrins, or different complexation techniques are compared with those obtained with conventional approaches.

Pharmaceutical Cocrystals—A Review

The design and synthesis of pharmaceutical cocrystals have received great interest in the recent years. Cocrystallization of drug substances offers a tremendous opportunity for the development of new drug products with superior physical and pharmacological properties such as solubility, stability, hydroscopicity, dissolution rates and bioavailability. This short review summarizes this highly topical field, covering why the topic is of interest in pharmaceutical formulation, the definitions and practical scope of cocrystals, cocrystal preparation and characterization, a comparison of different (traditional and novel) methods for cocrystal formation and the implications for regulatory control and intellectual property protection. Traditionally, cocrystals can be prepared by solvent evaporation method, grinding, and slurry method, but every method has its limitations for certain conditions. The current trend for cocrystal formation uses sophisticated methods such as the hot melt extrusion method, spray-drying method, supercritical fluid technology and the newest method: laser irradiation. The purpose of the development of a new method is not only to overcome the limitation of traditional cocrystallization methods, but also to generate simpler steps and a continuous process for the production of the cocrystal product. This article provides a brief explanation of each method that can be used to generate pharmaceutical cocrystals as well as evaluation of cocrystals. This article also covers how the developing field of cocrystallization may impact the pharmaceutical intellectual property landscape.