Advertisement

Researchers discover a simple way to make ibuprofen work better

There's been a lot of confusion around the recommendation for ibuprofen for COVID-19 patients this week.

There's been a lot of confusion around the recommendation for ibuprofen for COVID-19 patients this week. Photo: Getty

Researchers have found a simple, environmentally friendly way to make a more effective form of ibuprofen.

The technique, which uses a ball mill, could help manufacturers to lower their energy and material use when making painkillers.

They’ve published their study in RSC Mechanochemistry.

Ibuprofen, commonly sold under the brand Nurofen in Australia, is listed by the World Health Organisation as an essential medicine.

However, the drug is sensitive to heat and difficult to dissolve in water, both of which make it resource-intensive to make and less effective than it might be.

This study used a drum mill – a rotating drum containing ball bearings – to grind ibuprofen with a compound called nicotinamide. This produced “co-crystals” which could be more effective painkillers than plain ibuprofen.

The mills have been used in mining and construction industries for years, but chemists have more recently become interested in them because of their ability to trigger reactions with mechanical energy.

The reactions don’t need as much heat, or solvents to dissolve the reagents that traditional chemical manufacturing requires, making the process more environmentally friendly.

The researchers were able to make 3kg of ibuprofen-nicotinamide co-crystals to pharmaceutical-level purity, after 90 minutes of rotating.

“This outcome is particularly impressive when compared to traditional solution-based methods, which often require large volumes of solvents, as well as energy- and time-intensive processes,” says first author Jan-Hendrik Schöbel, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute für Kohlenforschung, Germany.

Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, which means it acts by blocking the enzymes that produce a group of chemicals called prostaglandins.

University of Sydney professors have previously stated that these chemicals are important for normal body functions such as relaxing blood vessels, preventing blood clotting, secreting protective mucus in the gut and helping the uterus contract. They are also involved in inflammation, pain, and fever.

Because it reduces inflammation, the Australian Therapeutic Guidelines state ibuprofen is a better choice than paracetamol for pain associated with osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis, period pain, some types of headache, and for pain that comes from having an operation.

Parts of this article first appeared in Cosmos magazine. Read the original here.

Topics: Health
Advertisement
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter.
Copyright © 2025 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.