How To Administer Insoluble Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Solid dosage forms (tablets and capsules) are the most common and effective way to administer drugs, making up about 60% of all drug delivery methods. These range from treatment of cold symptoms to head aches to allergies to gastro-intestinal discomfort, and so on. Brands like Tylenol and Advil have become household names.

Once tablets or capsules are taken whole, they dissolve in the digestive tract and are then distributed throughout the body in the blood to reach their target area. However, some active pharmaceutical ingredients are not soluble. In fact, more than 40% of new chemical entities developed in the pharmaceutical industry have little or no solubility in water (due to the non-polar or very small polar nature of the chemical composition of the drug). Sometimes, effective drugs cannot be taken through tablets or capsules because of their inability to dissolve in water and disperse in the body. Considering the magnitude of drugs that are not completely soluble in water, a method of administering these drugs is needed to utilize the full advantages of new innovation in the pharmaceutical field. These insoluble drugs can still be used by administering them throughout the body with a different method that has been made possible with modern technological improvements.