Numerical Tools for Predicting Drug Dissolution Profiles

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Project Summary: Numerical Tools for Predicting Drug Dissolution Profiles This STTR Phase II proposal describes the development of a modeling framework that combines a mesoscopic model for hydrodynamics with disintegration and dissolution kinetic models in order to accurately describe the dissolution behavior of tablets. The complexities of the tablet dissolution problem have led to the development of empirical methodologies being the widespread practice in the pharmaceutical industry. However, because of a lack of mechanistic information the process has to be repeated for each new formulation, and no insights can be gained from the test. This process adds to the cost and increases the time to market for new drugs. Our approach builds on our Phase I approach, where we used the Lattice Boltzmann model, and developed an innovative modular approach of incorporating the detailed dissolution kinetics such that we could study tablet dissolution. In this effort, we plan to include more realistic mechanisms such as disintegration into our framework. We will include details about the internal structure of the tablet: its porosity, tortuosity, and distribution of components. Liquid uptake will be modeled by including capillary effects, and material properties, such as wettabilities and surface energies will be included in our model. The goal is to develop a model that can be used by pharmaceutical researchers and formulation scientists, such that they can identify potential problems in tablet formulation.