Space Station Research Aims To Improve Pill Design
June 14, 2016
The Hard to Wet Surfaces research slated to take place on the International Space Station examines how certain pharmaceuticals dissolve.
What happens in space doesn’t always stay in space – at least a team of scientists hopes that’s the case. Research slated to begin soon aboard the International Space Station will ideally lead to improved design of pills and tablets used to deliver medicine back here on Earth, according to an article from ECN.
The Eli Lilly Hard to Wet Surfaces research focuses on liquid-solid interactions and how certain pharmaceuticals dissolve. Two factors, wettability and float effect, influence how well a solid dissolves on Earth, according to the article. The goal of the space station research is to better understand these factors by separating their effects in microgravity. The results of the investigation will reportedly help steer ingredient selection for future pharmaceutical formulations.
