Crystal engineering and crystallography in the pharmaceutical industry

The value of pharmaceuticals depends on their function in treating and preventing disease. The complex structures of drugs and their biological targets, as well as the intricate interactions between them, have provided ample opportunities for basic science exploration. While crystal structure analysis has long been recognized in academia as a cornerstone of material research, it has been less than three decades since crystallography and crystal structure mining gained critical recognition as powerful tools in pharmaceutical R&D. The realization that pharmaceuticals are, in fact, functional materials has led to the understanding that crystallographic data are integral to the development of drug products.

This issue of CrystEngComm is focused on contributions dealing with the use of crystal structure information and crystallography in general for the study of pharmaceutical materials, such as drugs and inactive additives used in pharmaceutical dosage forms. Studies with drug-like compounds also provide useful observations regarding relationships between crystal structure and physico-chemical properties. Together with CrystEngComm, experts from academia and industry alike join the discussion involving the use of crystallographic data and analysis for molecules in drug development – reflecting on past achievements and future directions. In particular, perspectives on molecular design and materials characterization using crystal structure analysis techniques as a basis to facilitate understanding of the structure and function of medicines are presented in this issue.

As guest editors, we are pleased with the breadth of topics within the main theme, as well as the depth of insight in each contributed manuscript. Examples of sub-themes in the issue include: Supramolecular design and characterization, form selection for pharmaceutical product development, the role of cocrystals in separation, application of solvates in physico-chemical property enhancement, evaluation of material properties and structure–property relationships. Many of the papers illustrate the opportunities in engineering materials for performance: Improved solubility, dissolution rate, oral bioavailability, compaction properties, etc. We hope that those viewing the issue, whether as a regular or a casual reader, find here both interesting and relevant original research to stimulate new ideas in the area of pharmaceutical materials research.

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