We present a novel computational tool which predicts the glass-forming ability of drug compounds solely from their molecular structure. Compounds which show solid-state limited aqueous solubility were selected, and their glass-forming ability was determined upon spray-drying, melt-quenching and mechanical activation. The solids produced were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray diffraction. Compounds becoming at least partially amorphous on processing were classified as glass-formers, whereas those remaining crystalline regardless of the process method were classified as non-glass-forming compounds. A predictive model of the glass-forming ability, designed to separate between these two classes, was developed through the use of partial least-squares projection to latent structure discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and calculated molecular descriptors. In total, ten of the 16 compounds were determined experimentally to be good glass-formers and the PLS-DA model correctly sorted 15 of the compounds using four molecular descriptors only. An external test set was predicted with an accuracy of 75%, and, hence, the PLS-DA model developed was shown to be applicable for the identification of compounds that have the potential to be designed as amorphous formulations. The model suggests that larger molecules with a low number of benzene rings, low level of molecular symmetry, branched carbon skeletons and electronegative atoms have the ability to form a glass. To conclude, we have developed a predictive, transparent and interpretable computational model for the identification of drug molecules capable of being glass-formers. The model allows an assessment of amorphization as a formulation strategy in the early drug development process, and can be applied before compound synthesis.

In this paper, the degree of mechanical activation of particles due to mechanical straining without subsequent breakage has been studied. Griseofulvin micro-particles of about 2 microm in size were mixed with glass beads (proportion 1:99) in a tumbling mixer. After a series of mixing times, ranging from 2-96 hours, samples were withdrawn and the particle size and the degree of crystallinity were assessed. The mixing process gave no detectable change in particle size. The degree of disorder of the drug particles increased with mixing time and highly amorphous particles were obtained after about 24 h of mixing. The results thus indicate that particles can be completely activated by mechanical treatment without a parallel size reduction of the particles. It is suggested that the activation is caused by repeated deformation of the particles, gradually transforming the crystalline state into an amorphous state.

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