Abstract
The present work reveals a new and simple strategy, a one-step sol-gel procedure, to encapsulate a low water-soluble drug in silica mesostructured microparticles and to improve its release in physiological media. The synthesis of these new materials is based on the efficient solubilisation of a poorly water-soluble drug in surfactant micelles (Tween 80, a pharmaceutical excipient) which act as template for the silica network. A strict control of the sol-gel process and the parameters procedure in soft con- ditions (concentration, pH, temperature) was applied to reach the solubilisation limit of the drug in the micellar solution so as to optimise its encapsulation. Even if this one-pot procedure could appear limited by the low drug loading, it could provide an interesting alternative for the formulation of many recent highly active but very poorly soluble drugs.