Improving aerosolization of drug powders by reducing powder intrinsic cohesion via a mechanical dry coating approach

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of coating on the aerosolization of three model micronized powders. Three model powder materials (salbutamol sulphate, salmeterol xinafoate, triamcinolone acetonide) were chosen not only for their different chemical properties but also for their different physical properties such as shape and size distribution. Each powder was coated with 5% (w/w) magnesium stearate using two different dry mechanofusion approaches. After mechanofusion, both poured and tapped densities for all three model drug powders significantly increased. There were significant improvements in aerosolization behavior from an inhaler device for all model powders after mechanofusion. Such improvements in aerosolization were attributed to the reduction in agglomerate strength caused by decreasing powder intrinsic cohesion via surface modification. The work also indicated that the effect of the coating was dependant on the initial particle properties.