Lauretta Maggi: Department of Drug Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy. lauretta.maggi@unipv.it.
Valeria Friuli: Department of Drug Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy. valeria.friuli@unipv.it.
Enrica Chiesa: Department of Drug Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy. enrica.chiesa01@universitadipavia.it.
Silvia Pisani: Department of Drug Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy. silvia.pisani01@universitadipavia.it.
Mirena Sakaj: Department of Chemistry, Physical-Chemistry Section, University of Pavia, Via Taramelli 16, 27100 Pavia, Italy. mirena.sakaj01@universitadipavia.it.
Paolo Celestini: Cosma S.P.A., Via Colleoni 15/17, 24040 Ciserano, Italy. p.celestini@cosma.it.
Giovanna Bruni: Department of Chemistry, Physical-Chemistry Section, University of Pavia, Via Taramelli 16, 27100 Pavia, Italy. giovanna.bruni@unipv.it. ORCID
An electrospinning process was optimized to produce fibers of micrometric size with different combinations of polymeric and surfactant materials to promote the dissolution rate of an insoluble drug: firocoxib. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) showed that only some combinations of the proposed carrier systems allowed the production of suitable fibers and further fine optimization of the technique is also needed to load the drug. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) suggest that the drug is in an amorphous state in the final product. Drug amorphization, the fine dispersion of the active in the carriers, and the large surface area exposed to water interaction obtained through the electrospinning process can explain the remarkable improvement in the dissolution performance of firocoxib from the final product developed.
