Nanosuspension Technology for Drug Delivery

The poor water solubility of drugs is major problem for drug formulation. To date, nanoscale systems for drug delivery have gained much interest as a way to improve the solubility problems. The reduction of drug particles into the sub-micron range leads to a significant increase in the dissolution rate and therefore enhances bioavailability. Nanosuspensions are promising candidates that can be used for enhancing the dissolution of poorly water soluble drugs. Nanosuspensions contain submicron colloidal dispersion of pharmaceutical active ingredient particles in a liquid phase stabilized by surfactants. Production of drugs as nanosuspensions has been developed for drug delivery systems as an oral formulation and non-oral administration. This review describes the methods of pharmaceutical nanosuspension production, formulations and pharmaceutical applications in drug delivery as well as the marketed products.