Basics of Compounding--Nonsterile: Compounding Self-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems and Other Self-emulsifying Lipid Formulations, Part 2.

Self-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems are being introduced and are increasing in popularity for improving the solubility of lipophilic drugs. They are isotropic mixtures of drug, oil, surfactant and/or cosurfactant, and sometimes cosolvents. There is some overlap of this discussion in the March-April 2018 issue of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding in an article on the discussion of microemulsions. Self-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems can be orally administered in hard-gelatin capsules so they can be appropriate for compounding after the formulation has been developed. Their primary advantages include enhanced solubility and bioavailability for lipophilic drugs that provide formulation challenges. Part 1 of this 2-part article was presented in the May-June 2018 issue of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding, which included a discussion on the three main types of Self-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems. The conclusion of this 2-part article is presented in this issue with additional discussions on the topics of 1) dosage forms utilizing Self-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems, 2) characterization of Self-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems, and 3) example formulas for Self-nano-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems and Self-micro-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems. As will be seen in this 2-part series, there are numerous dosage forms in which Self-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems can be incorporated.