Formulation and Evaluation of Liquisolid Tablet with Enhanced Dissolution of Ivacaftor by Using Box-Behnken Design

Introduction: Ivacaftor a drug falling under BCS class II due to its low solubility, with a bioavailability of around 20%. In this study, the novel liquisolid technique is used to enhance the dissolution and ultimately improve the solubility. Objectives: The primary objective was to increase the efficiency of the drug, particularly in lower doses. Materials and Methods: The formulation containing 25 mg liquisolid ivacaftor tablet was prepared through a multi-step process. Initially, assessed the drug saturation solubility in various non-volatile solvents, whereas utilized transcutol shows higher solubility for Ivacaftor (i.e. 82.1 mg/mL). The angle of slide was determined by using neusilin US2 as the carrier and syloid FP 244 as the coating agent. The neusilin US2 and syloid FP244 materials were chosen for their high surface area (300 m²/g), facilitating absorption and adsorption, respectively. The liquid loading factor, excipient Ratio (R), disintegrating agent in the liquisolid technique plays a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of drug dissolution and bioavailability enhancement. The liquisolid formulation evaluated by FTIR, XRD, DSC, Raman Mapping, and advanced powder flow testing. Results: Employing a Design of Experiment (DOE) approach, including box-Behnken model the optimized batch was formulated to achieve enhanced dissolution and bioavailability, thus maximizing the therapeutic efficiency. Conclusion: The results demonstrated a 100% dissolution for the Ivacaftor liquisolid tablet compared to the lactose-based conventional tablet, indicating superior drug release.