Scaled-up production of liposome-encapsulated hemoglobin

A process for producing at least 10 mls/min of hemoglobin encapsulated in a liposome wherein said encapsulated hemoglobin has an in vivo half-life in mice of at least 15 hours comprising the steps of:

• forming a liposome from a combination consisting essentially of:
• (a) a compound selected from the group consisting of hydrogenated soy phosphatidylcholine and distearoyl phosphatidylcholine,
• (b) Cholesterol,
• (c) Dimyristoyl phosphatidyl gylcerol, and
• (d) alpha-tocopherol,
• combining said liposome with a sterile dispersion of stoma-free hemoglobin to form a hemoglobin/liposome mixture:
• encapsulating the hemoglogin in said liposome by pressurizing said mixture in a first chamber, projecting said mixture into a second chamber having a lower pressure than said first chamber through at least two orifices forming streams which impinge against one another, said impinging streams causing cavitation and agitation in the mixture contained in said second chamber, recirculating said mixture until the average particle size is about 0.20 microns, and
• filtering said encapsulated hemoglobin mixture to remove impurities including unencapsulated hemoglobin to produce a sterilized product.