Review Article

Formulation Strategies to Improve the Bioavailability of Poorly Absorbed Drugs with Special Emphasis on Self-Emulsifying Systems

Table 3

Examples of lipids, surfactants, and cosurfactant used in commercial formulations.

Excipient name (commercial name)Examples of commercial products in which it has been usedReferences

Lipid ingredients
Corn oil, mono-, di-, triglycerides,
DL-alpha-Tocopherol
Neorol oral solution,
Fortavase soft gelatin capsule
[2]
Mixture of mono- and diglycerides of caprylic/capric acid (Akoline)Avodart soft gelatin capsule[34]
Triglyceride of the fractionated plant fatty acids C8 und C10 (Miglyol)Rocaltrol soft gelatin capsule,
Hectrol soft gelatin capsule
[34]
Capryol 90 (propylene glycol monocaprylate)[32, 35, 36]
Captex 355 (glycerol caprylate caprate)[35]
Capmul MCM L8 (glyceryl mono-dicaprylate1,2,3- propanetriol decanoic acid monoester)[22, 35]
Oleic acid/ethyl oleateRitonavir soft gelatin capsule,
Norvir soft gelatin capsule
[37]

Surfactants/cosurfactants
Polysorbate 20 (Tween 20)Targretin soft gelatin capsule[38]
Polysorbate 80 (Tween 80)Gengraf hard gelatin capsule[34, 35]
Sorbitan monooleate (Span 80)Gengraf hard gelatin capsule[39]
Polyoxy-35-castor oil (Cremophor EL)Gengraf hard gelatin capsule,
Ritonavir soft gelatin capsule
[40]
Polyoxy-40-hydrogenated castor oil (Cremophor RH40)Nerol soft gelatin capsule,
Ritonavir oral solution
[37, 41]
Nikkol HCO-50 (PEG 40 hydrogenated castor oil)[40]
Polyoxyethylated glycerides (Labrafil M 2125 Cs)Sandimmune soft gelatin capsules[36]
Polyoxyethylated oleic glycerides (Labrafil M 1944 Cs)Sandimmune oral solution
[35, 36, 42, 43]
Labrasol[36, 37]

Cosurfactants
Ethanol/glycerine/polypropylene glycolNerol, Sandimmune, Lamprene soft gelatin capsule, Nerol oral solution, Gengraf hard gelatin capsule,
Polyethylene glycolTargretin soft gelatin capsule, Gengraf hard gelatin capsule, Agenerase soft capsule, Agenerase oral solution[22, 34, 35]
Transcutol [40]

Inert adsorbents
Aerosil 200 [36]
Microcrystalline cellulose [34]
Neusilin [44]
Dextran [43, 45]