Explicating the Applications of Quality by Design Tools in Optimization of Microparticles and Nanotechnology Based Drug Delivery Systems

Quality by design (QbD) can also contribute to design, manufacturing, and producing highly finished goods. To better explain the manufacturing processes, the FDA focused QbD in the healthcare industry, based on a comprehensive understanding of how technology and design parameters affect the quality of the manufactured product. Various elements of QbD are critical quality attributes (CQA); critical material attributes (CMAs), and critical process parameters (CPPs). The tools generally applied in QbD are risk assessment, design of experiments, and process analytical technology. The various benefits of the QbD model are preventing sampling errors and variability in research studies, less experimentation, and enhanced productivity. Since the microparticles and nanotechnology-based formulations need complex experimentation and an extremely time-consuming process, the application of QbD tools in such investigations can intelligently conclude the research processes. This review article provides a brief outline of the fundamentals, elements, and tools of QbD. Furthermore, the recently published applications of QbD in the optimization of microparticles and nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems have been discussed in this review.

Applications of Statistical Tools for Optimization and Development of Smart Drug Delivery System

In the novel dosage form development, quality is the key criterion in pharmaceutical industry. The quality by design tools used for development of the quality products with tight specification and rigid process. The specifications of statistical tools are essentially based upon critical process parameters (CPPs), critical material attributes (CMAs), and critical quality attributes (CQAs) for the development of quality products. The application of quality by design in pharmaceutical dosage form development is systematic, requiring multivariate experiments employing process analytical technology (PAT) and other experiments to recognize critical quality attributes depend upon risk assessments (RAs). The quality by design is a modern technique to stabilize the quality of pharmaceutical dosage form. The elements of quality by design such as process analytical techniques, risk assessment, and design of experiment support for assurance of the strategy control for every dosage form with a choice of regular monitoring and enhancement for a quality dosage form. This chapter represents the concepts and applications of the most common screening of designs/experiments, comparative experiments, response surface methodology, and regression analysis. The data collected from the dosage form designing during laboratory experiments, provide the substructure for pivotal or pilot scale development. Statistical tools help not only in understanding and identifying CMAs and CPPs in product designing, but also in comprehension of the role and relationship between these in attaining a target quality. Although, the implementation of statistical approaches in the development of dosage form is strongly recommended.

A Quality by Design Framework for Capsule-Based Dry Powder Inhalers

Capsule-based dry powder inhalers (cDPIs) are widely utilized in the delivery of pharmaceutical powders to the lungs. In these systems, the fundamental nature of the interactions between the drug/formulation powder, the capsules, the inhaler device, and the patient must be fully elucidated in order to develop robust manufacturing procedures and provide reproducible lung deposition of the drug payload. Though many commercially available DPIs utilize a capsule-based dose metering system, an in-depth analysis of the critical factors associated with the use of the capsule component has not yet been performed. This review is intended to provide information on critical factors to be considered for the application of a quality by design (QbD) approach for cDPI development. The quality target product profile (QTPP) defines the critical quality attributes (CQAs) which need to be understood to define the critical material attributes (CMA) and critical process parameters (CPP) for cDPI development as well as manufacturing and control.

An Updated Risk Assessment as Part of the QbD-Based Liposome Design and Development

Liposomal formulation development is a challenging process. Certain factors have a critical influence on the characteristics of the liposomes, and even the relevant properties can vary based on the predefined interests of the research. In this paper, a Quality by Design-guided and Risk Assessment (RA)-based study was performed to determine the Critical Material Attributes and the Critical Process Parameters of an “intermediate” active pharmaceutical ingredient-free liposome formulation prepared via the thin-film hydration method, collect the Critical Quality Attributes of the future carrier system and show the process of narrowing a general initial RA for a specific case. The theoretical liposome design was proved through experimental models. The investigated critical factors covered the working temperature, the ratio between the wall-forming agents (phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol), the PEGylated phospholipid content (DPPE-PEG2000), the type of the hydration media (saline or phosphate-buffered saline solutions) and the cryoprotectants (glucose, sorbitol or trehalose). The characterisation results (size, surface charge, thermodynamic behaviours, formed structure and bonds) of the prepared liposomes supported the outcomes of the updated RA. The findings can be used as a basis for a particular study with specified circumstances.

Impact of Critical Material Attributes (CMAs)-Particle Shape on Miniature Pharmaceutical Unit Operations

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emphasizes drug product development by Quality by Design (QbD). Critical material attributes (CMAs) are a QbD element that has an impact on pharmaceutical operations and product quality. Pharmaceutical drugs often crystallize as needle-shaped (a CMA) particles and affect the process due to poor flowability, low bulk density, and high compressibility, and eventually the product performance. In this study, the product obtained from crystallization was needle-shaped Ciprofloxacin HCl (CIPRO), formed lumps during drying, and compacted during processing through feeders. To delump small amounts of materials and break the needles, multiple available devices (mortar-pestle, Krups grinder) and custom-made grinder were assessed before formulation. The processed CIPRO powder was then used to make tablets in the miniature tablet manufacturing unit developed by the team at MIT. The critical quality attributes (CQA) of the tablets, set by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), were then assessed for the drug powder processed with each of these devices. Powder properties comparable to commercial CIPRO were obtained when the custom MIT-designed grinder was used, leading to tablets that meet the USP criteria, with comparable dissolution profiles of those for marketed CIPRO tablets. This study demonstrates how needle-shaped crystals have an impact on pharmaceutical operations, even if it is on a miniature scale, and how proper shape and subsequent flow properties can be obtained by processing the particles through the MIT team-designed grinder. Graphical Abstract

Progressing Towards the Sustainable Development of Cream Formulations

This work aims at providing the assumptions to assist the sustainable development of cream formulations. Specifically, it envisions to rationalize and predict the effect of formulation and process variability on a 1% hydrocortisone cream quality profile, interplaying microstructure properties with product performance and stability. This tripartite analysis was supported by a Quality by Design approach, considering a three-factor, three-level Box-Behnken design. Critical material attributes and process parameters were identified from a failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis. The impact of glycerol monostearate amount, isopropyl myristate amount, and homogenization rate on relevant quality attributes was estimated crosswise. The significant variability in product droplet size, viscosity, thixotropic behavior, and viscoelastic properties demonstrated a noteworthy influence on hydrocortisone release profile (112 ± 2–196 ± 7 μg/cm2/√h) and permeation behavior (0.16 ± 0.03–0.97 ± 0.08 μg/cm2/h), and on the assay, instability index and creaming rate, with values ranging from 81.9 to 120.5%, 0.031 ± 0.012 to 0.28 ± 0.13 and from 0.009 ± 0.000 to 0.38 ± 0.07 μm/s, respectively. The release patterns were not straightforwardly correlated with the permeation behavior. Monitoring the microstructural parameters, through the balanced adjustment of formulation and process variables, is herein highlighted as the key enabler to predict cream performance and stability. Finally, based on quality targets and response constraints, optimal working conditions were successfully attained through the establishment of a design space.