Improvement of Albendazole Solubility and Dissolution Rate by Ternary Solid Dispersion Technique

A ternary solid dispersion (SD) system was developed for the enhancement of the solubility and dissolution rate of albendazole (ABZ), a BCS class II drug. The effect of different ratios of one of two poloxamer grades (P 188 and P 407) in combination with PVP K30 was investigated. The ABZ SDs were prepared by conventional solvent evaporation method and evaluated for solubility, dissolution rate, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).Results showed an improvement in solubility and dissolution rate of ABZ for all prepared SDS. SD containing (ABZ: PVP K30: P 407) (50%: 48%: 2%) w/w achieved the highest dissolution rate. It released 83.8 % at 5 min in comparison with only 18% at75min of pure ABZ. Powder XRD demonstrated a decrease in ABZ crystallinity. This led to a decrease in melting point of ABZ as seen in the DSC study. The formulated SDs were stable for 6 months with no change in crystallinity at room temperature. There was no chemical interaction between ABZ and polymers in SD as demonstrated by FTIR analysis.The results showed improvement of solubility and dissolution rate of ABZ from the developed ternary SD system.