Rapidly releasing and taste-masking pharmaceutical dosage form

Details Rapidly releasing and taste-masking pharmaceutical dosage form Rapidly releasing and taste-masking pharmaceutical dosage form

1999-09-20

2001-04-24

Spear, James M. (Department: 1615)

Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions

Preparations characterized by special physical form

Particulate form

C424S490000, C424S493000, C424S495000, C424S497000, C514S781000, C514S951000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06221402

ABSTRACT:

This is a National Stage filing under 35 USC §371 based on PCT/IB97/01471 which was filed internationally on Nov. 20, 1997.
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to rapidly releasing and taste-masking pharmaceutical dosage form, and a process for preparation thereof. More specifically, this invention relates to a pharmaceutical dosage form which can be orally administered without bitter taste, with improved drug release properties in a gastrointestinal tract.
BACKGROUND ART
The bitter taste of many drugs which are orally administered are disadvantageous in several aspects. For example, the disagreeable taste of drugs causes difficulties in swallowing or causes patients to avoid taking their medication, whereby resulting in low compliance of patients. Thus, taste-masking technologies are considered very important, and are being developed by many researchers. The taste-masking is usually achieved by forming a taste-masking layer on a particle having an active ingredient. However, the taste-masking layer may cause poor drug release profiles. Thus, the formulation design is difficult to provide oral dosage forms having good taste-masking properties and good drug release properties.
European Patent Application No. EP 0409254 discloses rapid-releasing oral particle pharmaceutical preparation with unpleasant taste masked. The oral particle pharmaceutical preparation comprises a core and a film layer coating the core, the core at least containing a drug having an unpleasant taste and a water-swelling agent, and the film layer at least containing ethylcellulose and a water-soluble substance. However, this technology usually requires the heating of final product (e.g., at 60-75° C., 10-20 hr) to attain good drug release properties. The heating treatment is not preferable for heat-sensitive drugs which may be decomposed or melt at such high temperature. Further, in this technology, the effective masking time is described as more than 20 seconds. Such time period is not enough to provide complete masking effect for some patinets such as those with artificial teeth. Also, the previous technology cannot avoid the use of acetone and chlorine solvent (e.g., methyene chloride), which is harmful to human bodies, to provide the sufficient masking effect.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. S63-258809 discloses fine granules prepared by forming 1 to 10 wt. % of an outer layer on a core particle having a bitter active ingredient, and forming 3 to 10 wt. % of a saliva-insoluble layer on the outer layer. However, this technology cannot provide fine granules having rapid release properties in neutral and alkalic pH media. This is because the polymer composed of the outer layer has solubility strongly dependent on pH in media, and cannot be dissolved and disrupted in the neutral and alkalic pH media.
Accordingly, it would be desired if oral dosage form having improved drug release properties and taste-masking properties were provided.
BRIEF DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a rapidly releasing and taste-masking pharmaceutical dosage form (or pharmaceutical preparation) comprising a core containing a pharmaceutically active ingredient, low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose, the amount of the microcrystalline cellulose being at least 26.0 weight percent based on the total weight of the core; an inner coating layer formed on the core and containing a water-soluble polymer; and an outer coating layer formed on the inner coating layer and containing a saliva-insoluble polymer. In the dosage form of this invention, the core, the inner coating layer and the outer coating layer are preferably contained in an amount of from 49.9 to 95.1, from 0.1 to 45.3 and from 4.8 to 50.0 weight percent, respectively, based on the total weight of the dosage form. The dosage form may further comprises a sugar coating layer formed on the outer coating layer. The core is preferably in a spherical form and has an average particle diameter of 80 to 400 micrometers, more preferably 100 to 300 micrometers.
Suitable inner coating layer comprises 70.0 to 100 weight percent of a water-soluble polymer such as hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, and up to 30.0 weight percent of a water-insoluble polymer such as (1) an ethyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate copolymer, (2) an ethyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate/trimethylammonioethyl methacrylate copolymer. Suitable outer coating layer comprises 70.0 to 100 weight percent of a saliva-insoluble polymer such as (3) a buthyl methacrylate/(2-dimethylaminoethyl)methacrylatelmethyl methacrylate copolymer, and up to 30.0 weight percent of a water-soluble or water-insoluble copolymer.
According to the present invention, oral dosage forms having improved drug release properties and taste-masking properties (for example, more than 50 seconds) can be provided.
The present invention also provides a process for preparing the dosage form as mentioned above, which comprises mixing core materials containing a pharmaceutically active ingredient, low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose and subject the mixed core materials to wet agitation granulation, dry treatment and sieving treatment in this order to obtain core particles; forming an inner coating layer on the core particles by spraying with an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble polymer; and then forming an outer coating layer on the inner coating layer by spraying with an aqueous solution containing a saliva-insoluble polymer. This process can be carried out in the absence of a solvent harmful to a human body (e.g., acetone and chlorine solvent such as methylene chloride, chloroform and methyl chloride). Thus, this process is advantageous in view of safety and ecology.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, the oral dosage form comprises at least three layers, i.e., a core (also referred to as core particle) containing a pharmaceutically active ingredient, low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose; an inner coating layer containing a water-soluble polymer; and an outer coating layer containing a saliva-insoluble polymer.
Active ingredients which usually used in this invention have a bitter taste, although those having no bitter taste can also be used. Active ingredients useful in this invention include, for example, antifungal agents such as fluconazole, pain relievers such as acetaminophen and acetylsalicylic acid, antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, doxylamine succinate and meclizine, decongestants such as pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, anti-impotence such as sildenafil, antibiotics such as azithromycin, erythromycin and cepholosporin, penicillins such as sultamicillin tosylate and amoxicillin trihydrate, enzyme inhibitors such as sulbactam sodium, anthihypertensives such as nifedipine, doxazosin mesylate and arnlodipine besylate, antidiabetics such as glipizide, bronchodilators such as pirbuterol hydrochloride and theophyfline, anti-inflammatory agents such as piroxicam and tenidap, anti-depressants such as sertaraline hydrochloride, antacids such as calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide, and non-sedative antihistamines such as cetirizine, cardiotonics such as digitoxin and digoxin.
As used herein, “microcrystalline cellulose” means purified, partially depolymerized cellulose prepared by treating alpha cellulose. Examples of the microcrystalline cellulose are those soled under the tradename of Avicel™ (manufactured by Asahi Chemical Industry), Ceolus™(manufactured by Asahi Chemical Industry), Vivacel™(manufactured by J. Rettenmaier & Sohne GmbH), and Emcocel™(manufactured by Edward Mendell Co. Inc.). Suitable microcrystalline celluloses include those sold under the trade name of Avicel™ PH-101, PH- 102, PH-301 and PH-302 (manufactured by Asahi Chemical Industry), and mixtures of two or more of these celluloses. Most preferred are Avice™ PH-101.
As used herein, “low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose” means a low-substituted poly (hydroxypropyl) ether of cellulose, which contains not le

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