Development and characterization of self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) formulation for enhancing dissolution of fenofibric acid

Fenofibric acid is an active form of fenofibrate and a poorly water-soluble drug. The study aims to formulate and characterize self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) to improve the dissolution of fenofibric acid. The selection of oil, surfactant, and cosurfactant for preliminary screening was determined by the solubility study of fenofibric acid in various vehicles. The composition of selected oil, surfactant, and cosurfactant was glyceryl monolinoleate (Maisine® CC), Kolliphor® RH 40, and Transcutol® HP, PEG 400 respectively. The study results showed that the best SNEDDS formulation was Fd with a ratio of oil, surfactant, and cosurfactant of 10: 70: 20% v/v/v (Maisine® CC: Kolliphor® RH 40: Transcutol® HP). It produced good self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system such as the droplet size was 15.30 nm, 99.27% transmittance, thermodynamically stable, self-emulsification time was 18.84 seconds, the morphology of the formed nanoemulsion droplets was observed as sphere-shaped droplets and 1.6 fold increase in the dissolution of fenofibric acid.