Solubilized

A large percentage of drugs and dietary supplements are poorly water-soluble or water-insoluble. More than one-third of the drugs listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia fall into the poorly water soluble or water insoluble categories. To improve the absorption and bioavailability of oral dosage forms of these compounds, a wide variety of techniques have been developed to “solubilize” poorly-soluble active ingredients. These techniques include solid dispersions, lipid-based self-emulsifying systems, liposomes, complexation, and polymeric micelles.

Solubilized drugs generally improve the pharmacokinetic properties of the drugs, increasing their absorption and bioavailability. Solubilized formulations are generally more complex and more expensive to produce, and are thus usually employed for formulating high-cost active ingredients. The added cost of solubilized formulations is more than offset by the increased absorption, allowing use of lower dosages, and the more uniform delivery of the drug to the circulation.