Self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS): an alternative development platform for the Colombian pharmaceutical industry

The great technological advances within the pharmaceutical industry that involve the use of combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening have led to the discovery of many chemical entities that are candidates for drugs that have poor water solubility due to their high molecular complexity, which makes it difficult the development of products with these substances. Self-emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems (SEDDS) have gained an interest in pharmaceutical development, showing to be an effective alternative to improve the poorly water-soluble drugs’ bioavailability. In order to describe the state of knowledge about these systems, a systematic review was carried out in different databases about the literature related to SEDDS at a national and international level, describing the most relevant issues about SEDDS (types, composition, mechanisms to improve bioavailability, characterization, formulations). Despite the several investigations carried out during past years showing SEDDS potential to improve the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs, it was evident that only a few active substances have been included in these systems and successfully commercialized, due to some limitations that indicate the need for a greater understanding about these systems.