Review on self micro emulsifying drug delivery systems

Abstract

In modern drug discovery techniques, there has been a consistent increase in the number of poor water soluble drug candidate compounds, and currently more than 50% of new pharmacologically active chemical entities are lipophilic and exhibit poor water solubility. Self-micro emulsifying drug delivery (SMEDDS) is the one of the method for the improvement of oral bioavailability. SMEDDS are the isotropic mixtures of oils, surfactants, solvents and co-solvents. This review article tries to describe the formulation of SMEDDS and also talks about the construction of the phase diagram for SMEDDS. It describes the mechanism involved in self emulsification and the bio- pharmaceutical aspects involved. The advantages of SMEDDS over conventional emulsions are listed. Some of the marketed preparations of SMEDDS are listed in detail. A few drug delivery systems which show the scope for usage of the SMEDDS are also described.