Abstract

The oral route of administration of drugs is the most common and easiest route of administration, because of this reason most drugs are administered via oral route. Drugs administered orally should possess very good aqueous solubility for better absorption and bioavailability. But studies have shown that up to 35%-40% of new drugs possess poor aqueous solubility which leads to poor bioavailability. Self-emulsifying drug delivery systems are novel drug delivery systems that were created with the purpose of enhancing the bioavailability of poor aqueous soluble drugs. A lot of attention and focus has been put into this delivery system lately. SEDDS belong to the group of lipid-based formulations.

The unique feature of this delivery system is the ability to self-emulsify, that is, their ability to form micro emulsions or oil-in-water emulsions when diluted in the aqueous phase because of the gentle agitation of the gastrointestinal tract used for hydrophobic drugs having dissolution rate-limited absorption. SEDDS may have future potential in increasing the rate and extent of absorption of orally administered drugs. Low cost self-emulsifying drug delivery systems have easily accessible excipients such as natural oils or synthetic oils, surfactants and co-surfactants are now being formulated.

This article aims to review research works on self emulsifying drug delivery system, its pharmaceutical applications in the delivery of drugs, its merits and demerits, mechanism of action, different dosage forms, factors affecting its manufacturing and process.

Keywords: Self emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDDS); Lipid-based formulations; Bioavailability