With the increasingly hydrophobic nature of the candidate drugs, solubility and dissolution rates have become the limiting factors that affect bioavailability of oral and parenteral formulations. In this scenario mesoporous silica nanocarriers present an attractive platform for improvement of dissolution of poorly soluble drugs. The strategies in this technology essentially involve nano-amorphous or nano-crystalline confinement of drugs in the mesopores of silica substrates. It is known that nanonization improves drug dissolution velocity by offering a larger effective surface area. Furthermore, though physically unstable, amorphization is also an interesting method for dissolution enhancement. Molecular rearrangement of drug candidate is prevented in the mesopores of drug loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles resulting in stable amorphous state of the drug.

Current research in this area is focused on investigating the factors influencing the drug release from these carriers, the kinetics of drug release and manufacturing approaches to scale-up production for commercial manufacture. This presentation provides an overview of different methods adopted for synthesis of mesoporous materials, influence of processing factors on properties of these materials and drug loading methods. The drug release kinetics from mesoporous silica systems, the manufacturability and stability of these formulations. Finally, the safety and biocompatibility issues related to these silica based materials will be discussed.

Dr.  Satyanarayan Pattnaik, is a post-graduate in pharmaceutical sciences and has earned his doctorate degree in Pharmacy from Berhampur University in the year 2010. Having teaching, research and professional experience of about 20 years, Dr. Pattnaik is currently serving as Professor and Head, Department of Pharmaceutics at Talla Padmavathi College of Pharmacy, Warangal, INDIA. Actively engaged in research since past twelve years, he has about 30 internationally acclaimed publications in reputed peer reviewed journals with an impressive h-index and citations. He has about 40 articles abstracted in various national and international seminars and conferences, 01 patent and 02 books and three book chapters to his credit. His areas of research interest include Pharmaceutical nanotechnology, Pharmaceutical formulation development, controlled drug delivery, Pharmaceutical material science including micro and mesoporous materials in drug delivery, Solublization techniques, etc.  Being Associate Editor, editorial board member and reviewer for many reputed international journals, he is serving to the research community since past decade. He is a widely visited scientist as invited speaker/keynote speaker at various conferences and seminars contributing to the growth of pharmaceutical sciences. He is member of reputed national and international professional bodies like Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA), Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI), International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), etc.