Using colloidal packings as templates for structuring drugs

Many pharmaceutical compounds are poorly soluble in water; this is problematic because most pharmaceuticals are delivered orally and must dissolve in the gastrointestinal fluid in order to be taken up by the body. We introduce a simple method for increasing the dissolution rates of poorly water-soluble organic actives. We demonstrate that by structuring the compounds within the interconnected, nanoscale pore space of a colloidal packing we create composites which rapidly disintegrate in water, exposing the nanostructured organic active and leading to improved dissolution rates.