Pharmaceutical cocrystals: A review of preparations, physicochemical properties and applications

Pharmaceutical cocrystals are multicomponent systems in which at least one component is an active pharmaceutical ingredient and the others are pharmaceutically acceptable ingredients.Cocrystallization of a drug substance with a coformer is a promising and emerging approach to improve the performance of pharmaceuticals,such as solubility,dissolution profile,pharmacokinetics and stability.This review article presents a comprehensive overview of pharmaceutical cocrystals,including preparation methods,physicochemical properties,and applications.Furthermore,some examples of drug cocrystals are highlighted to illustrate the effect of crystal structures on the various aspects of active pharmaceutical ingredients,such as physical stability,chemical stability,mechanical properties,optical properties,bioavailability,sustained release and therapeutic effect.This review will provide guidance for more efficient design and manufacture of pharmaceutical cocrystals with desired physicochemical properties and applications.

A review on cocrystal of active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine

In the development of new drugs products,especially the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients,solubility and oral bioavailability are the main factors which are restricting the development of new drugs,whereas the physicochemical properties of active ingredients are the key element to affecting these factors.Pharmaceutical cocrystal provides an excellent opportunity to develop new drugs with excellent physical and chemical properties such as melting point,solubility,stability and bioavailability while retaining the pharmacological properties of individuals active pharmaceutical ingredients among pharmaceutical cocrystal compounds.Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has the characteristics of multiple pathways and multiple targets,mainly because it contains many active ingredients,like cocrystals thereof with many components.The active ingredients extracted from traditional Chinese herbal medicine have a wide range of pharmacological activities,but most of the active ingredients affect the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients due to their physical and chemical properties such as solubility.Traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical cocrystals can not only improve the physical and chemical properties of drugs without changing the internal structure of drugs,so as to provide a new scheme for the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients.This paper reviews the research progress of active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical cocrystal.The preparation methods of cocrystals are summarized and the advantages of cocrystals are illustrated with examples.