Lyophilization

Dextran as an excipient in lyophilization

Lyophilization, or freeze-drying, is a commonly used technique in the formulation development of small molecules, proteins and vaccines that are unstable in an aqueous medium and/or are thermolabile in nature. In drug development, this process presents challenges that may be overcome by incorporating excipients such as dextran.

Dextran is often used during lyophilization as a bulking agent and/or as a collapse temperature modifier. Lyophilization techniques are also used to improve the dissolution rate and oral bioavailability of drugs with poor solubility and high permeability as well as for Fast Disintegration Tablets (FDT).