A major challenge to the research-based pharmaceutical industry is the poor bioavailability of many of the new molecular entities (NME’s) which the industry is synthesising. It has been estimated that as many as 40% of all NME’s have poor bioavailability because of low aqueous solubility and that this percentage may be increasing with the advent of combinatorial chemistry and the growing importance of lipophilic receptors (in the CNS area, for example). In addition, around 50% of all NME’s exhibit some degree of polymorphism, sometimes giving rise to significant variation in bioavailability between different polymorphic forms.

Pharmaceutical products are discontinued at all stages of development, from experimental testing to Phase III clinical trials. In fact, only one in every thousand compounds that enter pre-clinical testing advances into human clinical trials.

Also compounds fail simply because of the lack of a suitable method of delivery – as drugs, in general, are tending to become more hydrophobic, higher in molecular weight, and more complex in structure.

Drug delivery encompasses a wide range of highly sophisticated technologies. Some of the more common modes of delivery being developed today include passive transdermal, transmucosal, and site- or time-specific systems, and electrotransport.

SOLIQS is using its platform-technologies to address these issues – the focus being on improved bioavailability as the key to improved drug delivery. Our drug delivery services – encompassing both melt extrusion (Meltrex, Xellex) and nanoparticle (NanoMorph) technology – provide platforms for various solutions to drug delivery problems. Overall, the company provides a “one-stop-shop” offering services from early feasibility to full-scale production in the field of enhanced bioavailability. In addition, the drug delivery unit is supported by a strong analytical group and extensive know-how about polymer technology.