Design, Development, and Characterization of High Drug-Loaded Drug-Drug-Polymer Ternary Amorphous Solid Dispersions

Ternary amorphous solid dispersions (TASD) are a three-component system that incorporates at least one drug in an amorphous form, offering potential advantages over conventional binary amorphous solid dispersions (ASD). This study aimed to design, characterize, and evaluate a stable and soluble high drug-loaded TASD combining two poorly water-soluble drugs, curcumin (CUR) and resveratrol (RES), with a hydrophilic polymer. Polymer screening studies, including miscibility, crystallization tendency, Flory–Huggins interaction parameter, and solubility parameter, were complemented by advanced techniques such as crystallization kinetics and molecular interaction analysis to assess drug-polymer interactions and amorphous stability. After selecting the optimal polymer, TASDs were prepared by rotary evaporation. Pure drugs, physical mixtures, binary, and ternary ASDs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. In-vitro dissolution under non-sink conditions was performed using a USP-II apparatus, and centrifuged samples were analyzed by UV–Vis spectroscopy. Long-term physical stability was assessed over 12 months at room temperature. Eudragit EPO was identified as the optimal polymer among EPO, HPMCAS, and S100. The resulting high drug-loaded (50% w/w) TASD was amorphous, exhibiting a single glass transition temperature (Tg) with strong drug-polymer interactions. In dissolution studies, the 50% drug-loaded TASD showed a ~ 197-fold and ~ fourfold increase in dissolved CUR and RES, respectively, compared to the crystalline drugs in the physical mixture after 1 h in acidic condition. Despite a lower RES release, it was still twice the release from binary ASDs. The TASD formulation remained physically amorphous for 12 months at room temperature storage.

Graphical Abstract