Theoretical and practical features of lyophilization of drugs (literature review)

The article examines the theoretical and practical features of the application of the method of drug lyophilization. Relevance. To increase the shelf life of many natural products and slow down the rate of irreversible changes due to physical, chemical, or biological factors, the scientific community has developed a number of methods, including freezing, chemical stabilization, sterilization, and others. However, the application of each of them has its limitations. Lyophilization is one of the most effective methods of processing unstable compounds, which helps to extend their shelf life and preserve biological activity. This is a high-tech process that requires careful identification and adjustment of certain parameters for its successful implementation. The basis of efficiency is the experimental determination of key characteristics, including temperature, pressure, and drying time. It is these factors that directly affect the quality and stability of the final product. The purpose of the article is to highlight the theoretical and practical aspects of using the lyophilization technique to increase the effectiveness of various drugs. The article presents a scientometric analysis of foreign and Russian scientific publications in the field of lyophilization of drugs. Search engines made it possible to generate and analyze an array of 20 publications indexed in the databases eLibrary, Web of Science, and Scopus, as well as presented online. The result of the study is a review of the presented scientific and practical research on the chosen topic; the author's conclusions are given. Some difficulties that arise when carrying out lyophilization are highlighted, and experiments in this direction are presented.