Enhanced dissolution of Oxcarbazepine microcrystals using a static mixer process

The purpose of this study was to form micronized powders of Oxcarbazepine (OXC), a poorly water-soluble drug, using a static mixer technique to enhance the dissolution rate. Controlled precipitation was achieved injecting the organic OXC solution rapidly into an aqueous methylcellulose (MC) protective solution by means of a static mixer thus providing turbulent and homogeneous mixing. Furthermore, a factorial design was implemented for data analysis. The physicochemical properties of the freeze-dried dispersions were evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Drug microcrystals showed a narrow size distribution with approximately 2 μm mean particle size and high drug loading. DSC and FTIR studies revealed that the drug remained in crystalline state and no drug–polymer interaction occurred. The dissolution studies showed enhanced dissolution of OXC microcrystals compared to the pure drug. The static mixer technique was proved capable for micro-sized polymeric particles. This is an inexpensive, less time consuming and fully scalable process for development of poorly soluble drugs.