Recently, a team led by Professor Lei Xu from the Department of Physics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), in collaboration with Harvard University, has developed a unique pharmaceutical formulation method to address the poor solubility of numerous drugs. The relevant findings have been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Poor solubility reduces the bioavailability and therapeutic effects of drugs, impairing their clinical efficacy. Many drug candidates readily dissolve in human fat and adsorb onto human cell membranes yet exhibit poor water solubility, which hinders their passage through clinical trials and commercialization. Therefore, finding effective methods to improve solubility is crucial for the development of new drugs and the enhancement of the efficacy of existing ones.

To tackle this scientific challenge, the research team led by Professor Xu has developed an innovative pharmaceutical formulation technology that enhances the material’s affinity for both drug and water molecules via a specially engineered silica surface. Under dry conditions, the silica surface can effectively adsorb drug molecules; upon contact with water, it binds to water molecules instead, displacing the drug molecules from its surface and significantly improving drug solubility. This technology is applicable to a wide range of drugs, offers high stability for long-term drug storage, and is amenable to large-scale production at low cost, thus holding the potential to become a platform technology for next-generation pharmaceutical formulation and delivery.

“Our formulation method is based on low-cost, biocompatible materials such as silica and can be applied to various drugs with remarkable effects. The manufacturing process relies on common techniques such as temperature and pressure adjustment, featuring simple operation, large-scale producibility and high cost-effectiveness,” said Professor Xu, a co-corresponding author of the paper. He added that this novel pharmaceutical formulation method significantly boosts drug bioavailability, delivers more optimal therapeutic outcomes for patients, and is expected to bring about transformative changes to the pharmaceutical industry.