A Comparative Study on Cyclodextrin Derivatives in Improving Oral Bioavailability of Etoricoxib as a Model Drug: Formulation and Evaluation of Solid Dispersion-Based Fast-Dissolving Tablets

Etoricoxib, as a model drug, has a poor solubility and dissolution rate. Cyclodextrin derivatives can be used to solve such a problem. A comparative study was run on three cyclodextrin derivatives, namely beta-CD, HP beta-CD, and SBE beta-CD, to solve the drug problem through the formulation of solid dispersions and their preparation into fast-dissolving tablets. Preparations utilized different (1:1, 1:2, and 1:4) drug:carrier ratios. Nine fast-dissolving tablets (containing 1:4 drug: carrier) were formulated using Prosolv ODT (R) and/or F-melt (R) type C as super-disintegrants. Optimized formulation was chosen based on a 32 factorial design. The responses chosen were the outcomes of the in vitro evaluation tests. The optimized formulation that had the highest desirability (0.86) was found to be SD-HP3, which was prepared from etoricoxib: HP beta-CD at a 1:4 ratio using equal amounts of Prosolv ODT (R) and F-melt (R) type C. An in vivo evaluation of SD-HP3 on a rabbit model revealed its superiority over the marketed product Arcoxia (R). SD-HP3 showed a significantly lower Tmax (13.3 min) and a significantly higher Cmax (9122.156 mu g/mL), as well as a significantly higher AUC, than Arcoxia (R). Thus, the solubility, dissolution, and bioavailability of etoricoxib were significantly enhanced.