Sub-150 nm drug nanocrystals produced using a milligram-scale media mill.

Nanocrystals (NCs), nano-sized drug particles, offer a promising strategy to enhance the bioavailability of poorly soluble compounds, a challenge that affects 70-90 % of new chemical entities. Among the available production methods, wet media milling is widely adopted due to its scalability and efficiency. However, conventional lab-scale mills often require large suspension volumes and high amounts of drug, limiting their suitability for early-stage development, particularly with novel or scarce compounds.

A novel temperature-controlled media milling device to produce drug nanocrystals at the laboratory scale.

Poor aqueous solubility of preexisting and emerging drug molecules is a common issue faced in the field of pharmaceutics. To address this, particle size reduction techniques, including drug micro- and nanonisation have been widely employed. Nanocrystals (NCs), drug particles with particle sizes below 1 µm, offer high drug content, improved dissolution, and long-acting capabilities.