US 4,235,871 A · Method of encapsulating biologically active materials in lipid vesicles

Abstract

The disclosure is of a method for encapsulating biologically active materials in synthetic, oligolamellar lipid vesicles (liposomes). The method comprises providing a mixture of lipid in organic solvent and an aqueous mixture of the material for encapsulation, emulsifying the provided mixture, removing the organic solvent and suspending the resultant gel in water. The method of the invention is advantageous over prior art methods of encapsulating biologically active materials in that it provides a means for a relatively high capture efficiency of the material for encapsulation. The disclosure is also of intermediate compositions in the encapsulation method, the product vesicles, compositions including the product vesicles as an active ingredient and their use.

Claims26

Dependent claims

A method of encapsulating biologically active materials in synthetic, oligolamellar, lipid vesicles, which comprises:

providing a mixture of a vesicle wall forming compound in organic solvent and an aqueous mixture of the biologically active material to be encapsulated, the ratio of organic phase to aqueous phase being that which will produce an emulsion of the water-in-oil type;
forming a homogeneous water-in-oil type of emulsion of said mixture;
evaporating organic solvent from the emulsion, until a mixture is obtained having a gel-like character;
and
converting the gel-like mixture to a suspension of synthetic, oligolamellar vesicles encapsulating the biologically active material by one of the steps of (a) agitating said gel-like mixture and (b) dispersing said gel-like mixture in an aqueous media.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method of encapsulating biologically active materials in lipid vesicles

Life of this patent

Method of encapsulating biologically active materials in lipid vesicles

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims26