Novel process
AssigneeSmithKline Beecham Corporation
InventorsChristoper Edmund Valder, John Peter Warr
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A wet granulation process in which a pharmaceutical substance is granulated using a granulating fluid which is a halogenated hydrocarbon which has a normal boiling point below ambient temperature, for example 1,1,1,2-tetraflouroethane, under a pressure sufficient to maintain the halogenated hydrocarbon in a liquid state. A process in which the halogenated hydrocarbon is re-cycled, and suitable equipment for performing the process is also described.
Claims18
A wet granulation process wherein a pharmaceutical substance is granulated using a granulating fluid which is a halogenated hydrocarbon which has a normal boiling point below ambient temperature, under a pressure sufficient to maintain the halogenated hydrocarbon in a liquid state.
A process according to any one of the proceeding claims characterised in that the halogenated hydrocarbon is a compound of formula CnHmFpClr, where n and m are whole numbers, p and r are zero or whole numbers provided both p and r are not zero and (m+p+r) equals 2n+2.
A process according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that the pharmaceutical substance includes a binder.
A process according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that entraining or modifying solvents are incorporated into the halogenated hydrocarbon.
A process according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that the halogenated hydrocarbon is separated from the granules by reduction of the pressure so that the halogenated hydrocarbon evaporates off from the granules.
Equipment to perform the process according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising;
- a source of halogenated hydrocarbon,
- means to transfer halogenated hydrocarbon from the source to a saturator vessel,
- an extraction vessel, in use being loaded with a binder, and able to bring halogenated hydrocarbon and binder into contact to generate a solution of the binder in the halogenated hydrocarbon,
- means to transfer the solution of binder in the halogenated hydrocarbon to a granulator vessel,
- a granulator vessel in which the pharmaceutical substance in particulate form to be granulated is mixed with the liquid halogenated hydrocarbon to form granules comprising aggregates of the particles of the pharmaceutical substance,
- means to remove the halogenated hydrocarbon from the granulator vessel in a gaseous state,
- a compressor to compress the gaseous halogenated hydrocarbon,
- a condenser by which the halogenated hydrocarbon is converted to a liquid state,
- means to return the liquid halogenated hydrocarbon to the source.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.