Strategies for particle design using supercritical fluid technologies.

Major advances in drug delivery and targeting over recent years have highlighted the limitations of conventional particle formation and pretreatment processes in fine-tuning the characteristics required. The alternative strategy of using supercritical fluid technologies for crystal and particle engineering of pharmaceutical materials and drug delivery systems shows great promise in this area. The design of particles for specific drug delivery needs - such as particle size control or polymorphic purity - is increasingly seen as a viable option. In describing recent progress in this field, this review provides a perspective of the current position of this platform technology and considers the possibilities and challenges for future applications and developments.