Lipid Based Self Emulsifying Formulations for Poorly Water Soluble Drugs-An Excellent Opportunity

Currently more than 50% of compounds identified are water insoluble and or poorly water soluble. These molecules are difficult to formulate using conventional approaches (for their poor aqueous solubility) and are associated with numerous formulation-related performance issues. Formulating these compounds using lipid based systems is one of the growing interest and suitable drug delivery strategies are applied to this class of molecules. The rapid growth and investment in the use of lipid based systems in product development is primarily due to the diversity and versatility of pharmaceutical grade lipid excipients and drug formulations and their compatibility with liquid, semi-solid and solid dosage forms. Lipid formulations such as self-emulsifying/ microemulsifying/ nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems have been attempted in many researches to improve the BA and dissolution rate for their better dispersion properties. One of the greatest advantages of incorporating the poorly soluble drug into such formulation products is their spontaneous emulsion and or micro emulsion/ nanoemulsion formation in aqueous media. The performance and ongoing advances in manufacturing technologies has rapidly introduced lipid-based drug formulations as commercial products into the marketplace with several others in clinical development. The goal of the current review is to present the characteristics feature, development and utilization of oral lipid based formulations within drug delivery region. The review also aims to provide an insight of the in vitro evaluation of lipid based systems and their potential limitations.