The physicochemical properties of spray dried micro-complexes of cefuroxime axetil (CFA) with hydroxypropyl-$\beta$-cyclodextrin (HP$\beta$CD) in presence and/or absence of ternary components polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 (PVP K30), hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), poloxamer 188 and/or polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG 4000) along with Aerosil{\textregistered}200 as an adsorbent were investigated. The phase solubility studies revealed AL type of solubility curve in binary as well as ternary systems. The stability constant 382.70 ± 2.4 M-1 of binary system i.e. CFA with HP$\beta$CD was significantly improved to 427.84 ± 3.8, 447.09 ± 4.3, 488.28 ± 4.6 and 502.21 ± 5.1 M-1 in presence of PVP K30, HPMC, poloxamer 188 and PEG 4000 respectively indicating positive effect of their addition. The micro-complexes of CFA were characterized by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffractometry, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, particle size analysis and dissolution. In all characterization studies, ternary systems performed better in comparison to binary systems as a result of synergistic effect of ternary complexation as well as particle size reduction achieved by a spray drying technology. {\textcopyright} 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.