We investigated the influence of drug-polymer hydrogen bonding interactions on molecular mobility and the physical stability in solid dispersions of nifedipine with each of the polymers polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMCAS), and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). The drug-polymer interactions were monitored by FT-IR spectroscopy, the molecular mobility was characterized using broadband dielectric spectroscopy, and the crystallization kinetics was evaluated by powder X-ray diffractometry. The strength of drug-polymer hydrogen bonding, the structural relaxation time, and the crystallization kinetics were rank ordered as PVP > HPMCAS > PAA. At a fixed polymer concentration, the fraction of the drug bonded to the polymer was the highest with PVP. Addition of 20% w/w polymer resulted in ∼65-fold increase in the relaxation time in the PVP dispersion and only ∼5-fold increase in HPMCAS dispersion. In the PAA dispersions, there was no evidence of drug-polymer interactions and the polymer addition did not influence the relaxation time. Thus, the strongest drug-polymer hydrogen bonding interactions in PVP solid dispersions translated to the longest structural relaxation times and the highest resistance to drug crystallization.

We investigated the correlation between molecular mobility and physical stability in three model systems, including griseofulvin, nifedipine, and nifedipine-polyvinylpyrrolidone dispersion, and identified the specific mobility mode responsible for instability. The molecular mobility in the glassy as well as the supercooled liquid states of the model systems were comprehensively characterized using dynamic dielectric spectroscopy. Crystallization kinetics was monitored by powder X-ray diffractometry using either a laboratory (in the supercooled state) or a synchrotron (glassy) X-ray source. Structural (α-) relaxation appeared to be the mobility responsible for the observed physical instability at temperatures above Tg. Although the direct measurement of the structural relaxation time below Tg was not experimentally feasible, dielectric measurements in the supercooled state were used to provide an estimate of the α-relaxation times as a function of temperature in glassy pharmaceuticals. Again, there was a strong correlation between the α-relaxation and physical instability (crystallization) in the glassy state but not with any secondary relaxations. These results suggest that structural relaxation is a major contributor to physical instability both above and below Tg in these model systems.

We investigated the influence of sorbed water concentration on the molecular mobility and crystallization behavior in a model amorphous drug and a solid dispersion. The temperature scaling (Tg/T) allowed us to simultaneously evaluate the effects of water content and temperature on the relaxation time. In the supercooled dispersions, once scaled, the relaxation times of the systems with different water content overlapped. Thus, the observed increase in mobility could be explained by the "plasticization" effect of water. This effect also explained the decrease in crystallization onset temperature brought about by water. That is, plasticization is the underlying mechanism governing the observed increase in mobility and physical instability in the supercooled state. Similar results were observed in the glassy drug substance. A single linear relationship was observed between crystallization time (time for 0.5% crystallization) and Tg/T in both dry and water containing systems. Since fragility is unaffected by modest amounts of water, much like crystallization time, the mobility in the glass is expected to scale with Tg.

We investigated a possible correlation between molecular mobility and physical stability in glassy celecoxib and indomethacin and identified the specific mobility mode responsible for physical instability (crystallization). In the glassy state, because the structural relaxation times are very long, the measurement was enabled by time domain dielectric spectroscopy. However, the local motions in the glassy state were characterized by frequency domain dielectric spectroscopy. Isothermal crystallization was monitored by powder X-ray diffractometry using either a laboratory source (supercooled state) or synchrotron source (glassy state). Structural (α) relaxation time correlated well with characteristic crystallization time in the supercooled state. On the other hand, a stronger correlation was observed between the Johari-Goldstein (β) relaxation time and physical instability in the glassy state but not with structural relaxation time. These results suggest that Johari-Goldstein relaxation is a potential predictor of physical instability in the glassy state of these model systems.

Biopreservation processes such as freezing and drying inherently introduce heterogeneity. We focused on exploring the mechanisms responsible for heterogeneity in isothermal, diffusively dried biopreservation solutions that contain a model protein. The biopreservation solutions used contained trehalose (a sugar known for its stabilization effect) and salts (LiCl, NaCl, MgCl2, and CaCl2). Performing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis on the desiccated droplets, spatial distributions of the components within the dried droplet, as well as their specific interactions, were investigated. It was established that the formation of multiple thermodynamic states was induced by the spatial variations in the cosolute concentration gradients, directly affecting the final structure of the preserved protein. The spatial distribution gradients were formed by two competing flows that formed within the drying droplet: a dominant peripheral flow, induced by contact line pinning, and the Marangoni flow, induced by surface tension gradients. It was found that the changes in cosolute concentrations and drying conditions affected the spatial heterogeneity and stability of the product. It was also found that trehalose and salts had a synergistic stabilizing effect on the protein structure, which originated from destructuring of the vicinal water, which in turn mediated the interactions of trehalose with the protein. This interaction was observed by the change in the glycosidic CO, and the CH stretch vibrations of the trehalose molecule.