Formation of Cocrystals from Stoichiometric Solutions of Incongruently Saturating Systems by Spray Drying

Spray drying is a well established technique for material processing and scale-up. This study investigated the formation of pharmaceutical cocrystals by spray drying. The cocrystal formation mechanisms in spray-drying and solution methods, based on triangular phase diagrams, are discussed. The solvent evaporation of stoichiometric solutions of incongruently saturating cocrystals resulted in a mixture of phases, as dictated by the thermodynamic phase diagram. In contrast, spray drying of similar solutions of incongruently saturating systems generated pure cocrystals. It is thus suggested that the formation of cocrystals by spray drying could be kinetically controlled and/or mediated by the glassy state of the material.