title: Can pharmaceutical co-crystals provide an opportunity to modify the biological properties of drugs?
abstract: Poorly soluble and/or permeable molecules jeopardize the discovery and development of innovative medicines. Pharmaceutical co-crystals, formed by an active pharmaceutical substance (API) and a co-crystal former, can show enhanced dissolution and permeation values compared with those of the parent crystalline pure phases. It is currently assumed that co-crystallization with pharmaceutical excipients does not affect the pharmacological activity of an API or, indeed, might even improve physical properties such as solubility and permeability. However, as we highlight here, the biological behavior of co-crystals can differ drastically with respect to that of their parent physical mixtures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dalpiaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy. Electronic address: pvnbbr@unife.it.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pavan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ferretti
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D003460:Crystallization; D010539:Permeability; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D010600:Pharmacology; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations