Lubrizol’s Apisolex polymer has received a Silver award at the 2026 CPhI China Pharma Excipients Awards for its potential to improve the solubility of challenging drug compounds.

Lubrizol has announced that its Apisolex polymer excipient has received a Silver award in the Drug Delivery Empowerment category at the 2026 CPhI China Pharma Excipients Awards.

The award forms part of the wider CPhI Celebration awards programme, which recognises technologies and products designed to advance pharmaceutical development, drug delivery and manufacturing.

According to CPhI, the Pharma Excipients Awards highlight innovative excipient technologies that improve drug delivery, enhance bioavailability and demonstrate commercial potential within the pharmaceutical sector.

Apisolex polymer was selected from more than 100 nominees across all award categories and was recognised for its ability to address one of the industry’s longstanding formulation challenges: poor drug solubility.

The injectable excipient is designed to improve the solubility of poorly soluble BCS Class II and Class IV active pharmaceutical ingredients. Lubrizol said the technology can increase solubility by up to 50,000-fold, helping developers overcome a significant obstacle in drug formulation.

Poor solubility remains a common challenge across pharmaceutical pipelines, with industry estimates suggesting that approximately 60% of drug candidates experience solubility limitations that can affect development and delivery.

The latest award adds to a series of industry recognitions for the technology. Apisolex polymer previously received a Pharma Excipients Award in the Advanced Technology category at CPhI China in 2023 and was also recognised in the Finished Formulation category at CPhI Barcelona during the same year.

Lubrizol’s Apinovex polymer was also recognised through a Celebration Award in the Pharma Excipients category at CPhI China 2025.

Kevin Song, senior director, global nutraceutical and pharmaceutical businesses at Lubrizol, said: “Being recognized by CPhI, the industry’s primary showcase of pharmaceutical innovation, underscores Lubrizol’s continued commitment to next-generation excipient technologies that expand formulation possibilities and improve drug delivery.”

The recognition reflects continued industry interest in excipient technologies that can help address formulation challenges and support the development of increasingly complex pharmaceutical compounds.