A Review on Pharmaceutical Cocrystals of Luliconazole for Solubility Enhancement

Abstract

Poor aqueous solubility is still a major issue in the development of many pharmaceutical drugs, especially those comes under the BCS Class II. Luliconazole is one such antifungal drug. It shows good permeability, but its low solubility often limits how effectively it works in therapy. Because of this, improving its solubility becomes quite important from a formulation point of view. Luliconazole is a potent imidazole class antifungal drug used in treatment of fungal infections such as superficial mycoses. But its poor solubility makes its clinical performance less effective. Therefore, in recent years pharmaceutical cocrystallization has been innovated by the researchers to enhance the activity of luliconazole. This review focuses on the basic principles of pharmaceutical cocrystals including their formation, different methods of preparation, and their role in enhancing drug performance. Thus, recent studies (2022–2026) have shown that advanced delivery systems such as nanosuspensions, nanoemulsions, and vesicular carriers significantly enhance the solubility and antifungal efficacy of luliconazole. The fumaric acid cocrystals has been explored to overcome this limitation of luliconazole. With studies reporting up to 12-fold increase in solubility and more than 90% drug release in optimized formulations. They also help in improving solubility, dissolution rate & hence increasing bioavailability & its efficacy. Overall, the formulation of luliconazole fumaric acid cocrystal offers improved performance & outcome in treatment of superficial mycoses and other fungal infections.

Keywords: Luliconazole, Cocrystals, Solubility enhancement, Coformers.