Accelerated Stability Testing of a Clobetasol Propionate-Loaded Nanoemulsion as per ICH Guidelines

The physical and chemical degradation of drugs may result in altered therapeutic efficacy and even toxic effects. Therefore, the objective of this work was to study the stability of clobetasol propionate (CP) in a nanoemulsion. The nanoemulsion formulation containing CP was prepared by the spontaneous emulsification method. For the formulation of the nanoemulsion, Safsol, Tween 20, ethanol, and distilled water were used. The drug was incorporated into an oil phase in 0.05% w/v. The lipophilic nature of the drug led to the O/W nano-emulsion formulation. This was characterized by droplet size, pH, viscosity, conductivity, and refractive index. Stability studies were performed as per ICH guidelines for a period of three months. The shelf life of the nanoemulsion formulation was also determined after performing accelerated stability testing (40°C ± 2°C and 75% ± 5% RH). We also performed an intermediate stability study (30°C ± 2°C / 65% RH ± 5% RH). It was found that the droplet size, conductivity, and refractive index were slightly increased, while the viscosity and pH slightly decreased at all storage conditions during the 3-month period. However, the changes in these parameters were not statistically significant (p≥0.05). The degradation (%) of the optimized nanoemulsion of CP was determined and the shelf life was found to be 2.18 years at room temperature. These studies confirmed that the physical and chemical stability of CP were enhanced in the nanoemulsion formulation.