Poorly water-soluble drug nanoparticles via solvent evaporation in water-soluble porous polymers

A generic method is described to form poorly water-soluble drug nanoparticles within water-soluble porous polymer by solvent evaporation. The simple dissolution of porous polymer with drug nanoparticles results in stable aqueous drug nanoparticle suspension under the optimized conditions. The porous polymers were prepared by freeze-drying aqueous solutions of polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, and a surfactant. They were then used as scaffolds for the formation of nanoparticles by initially soaking them in an organic drug solution, followed with removing the solvent via evaporation under ambient conditions. This process was optimized for an antifungal drug griseofulvin, before being translated to anticonvulsant carbamazepine and antineoplastic paclitaxel via a similar procedure, with an aim to improve the loading of drug nanoparticles. By varying certain process parameters a degree of control over the particle size and surface charge could be attained, as well as the drug to stabilizer ratio (drug payload). Noticeably, aqueous paclitaxel nanoparticles (500 nm) were prepared which used the equivalent of 46% less stabilizer than the formulation Taxol®.