By focusing on the formulation technology and the selection and purification of the lipid raw materials, Wretlind's group overcame several adverse clinical reactions that had caused extensive problems for earlier investigators, including withdrawal of products from the market. The clinical use of parenteral fat emulsions is now globally accepted as a part of nutrition therapy. Formulation and manufacturing Intralipid became the starting point for using lipid emulsions as a delivery matrix for lipid-soluble drugs. A prominent example in the field of anesthesia is the propofol-containing drug emulsion Diprivan. This product, introduced in the mid 1980s, now has a large market for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia, and has been the most successful example of lipid emulsions applied to drug delivery so far.
Improved solubility is critical to propofol's success.
Propofol readily dissolves in soybean oil and gives a low concentration of the drug in the water phase. Because the concentration determines the pain on injection, this adds to the benefits of an emulsion formulation. Propofol emulsions are now available as a generic product. Several cytotoxic compounds with a lipophilic character have also been formulated in this manner, including taxol. Polar triglycerides The most direct way of developing a drug emulsion is to base the formulation on nutritional emulsion products.