Dr. Sarah Stevens, former Vice President of Drug Development Sciences at Quotient Sciences, discusses our integrated approach to accelerating the development of poorly soluble compounds in a Drug Development & Delivery Special Feature article, "Improving Bioavailability & Solubility: Each Molecule Is Unique"
Solving bioavailability and solubility challenges to support successful drug delivery is an ever-enduring challenge (and opportunity) for pharmaceutical formulation scientists. Along with well-established approaches to improving each, there are many emerging platform technologies, providing options in the toolbox. In many ways, though, availability of such formulation and process technology approaches does not present the primary barrier to improving universal solubility and bioavailability challenges. Instead, a key challenge is the continued lack of predictive, clinically relevant models to guide formulation selection early enough in the development process – such that money and time are not unnecessarily expended, and avoidable risks not taken.
“With many examples of misleading nonclinical and in vitro predictability out there, robust predictive models would afford the ability to understand and adapt for successful clinical outcomes from the outset,” says Dr. Sarah Stevens, Vice President of Drug Development Sciences at Quotient Sciences. “Quotient Sciences embodies science-led decision making, therefore not relying simply on potentially unreliable predictive models. A combination of unique development approaches provides the most expeditious means to improve potential bioavailability and solubility challenges.”
Quotient, she says, deploys technologies such as particle size reduction, lipid-based formulation mechanisms, HME, SDD, etc., but more pertinently, drives early formulation selection by cutting through industry silos and integrating across a range of capabilities to accelerate the drug development process.