SweDeliver Webinar • Anne Marie Healy

Welcome to the SweDeliver webinar series. This time, we are delighted to host Anne Marie Healy, Professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin.

Abstract: As many as 70–90% of compounds in the pharmaceutical development pipeline exhibit poor aqueous solubility. Limited solubility of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) may arise from high molecular lipophilicity or from strong crystal lattice forces that impede dissolution. Such molecules are often referred to as “grease ball” or “brick dust” compounds, respectively. A range of enabling formulation strategies has been developed to address the challenges posed by such poorly water-soluble drugs and enhance their oral bioavailability.

In this presentation, Professor Healy will discuss some current and emerging approaches to addressing the limitations associated with poorly water-soluble drugs. The webinar will consider how formulation design and processing choices influence performance, beginning with amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs), including the potential role of co-precipitation as a flexible alternative to more established manufacturing approaches. Building on these solid-state strategies, the presentation will then highlight recent research from Professor Healy’s laboratory on API ionic liquids and related liquid-state systems - forward-looking platforms that challenge conventional dosage-form paradigms by reducing crystallisation risk, enhancing apparent solubility, and enabling novel processing pathways. Collectively, these examples illustrate how advances in formulation science can expand the developability landscape for poorly water-soluble drug candidates.

Short Biography: Anne Marie Healy is Professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin. She has over thirty years’ research experience in pharmaceutical material science, preformulation and formulation of pharmaceuticals, with a particular focus on enhancing oral and pulmonary drug delivery. Since 2013, Anne Marie has served as a Co-Principal Investigator at the SSPC, the Research Ireland Centre for Pharmaceuticals. She is currently Co-Director of the EPSRC-Research Ireland Centre for Doctoral Training in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies, a joint initiative funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Research Ireland. Professor Healy has published extensively, with more than 140 peer-reviewed international publications. She has graduated 26 PhD students and mentored 29 postdoctoral researchers to date. Anne Marie serves on the editorial boards of Molecular Pharmaceutics and the Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery, and is an editor of the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.