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US 6,183,781 B2Granted
Method for fabricating polymer-based controlled-release devices
AssigneeAlkermes Controlled Therapeutics, Inc.
InventorPaul A. Burke
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Abstract
The present invention includes a method for producing an implantable polymer/drug matrix mass, comprising the steps of (1) forming a polymer solution/drug mixture comprising a polymer dissolved in an organic solvent and a suspended labile drug; (2) removing the solvent from the polymer solution/drug mixture, thereby forming a solid polymer/drug matrix; and (3) mechanically compressing the polymer/drug matrix, thereby forming an implantable polymer/drug matrix mass.
Claims11
A method for preparing a polymer/drug matrix mass, wherein the drug is a labile drug, consisting essentially of the steps of:
- (a) forming a polymer solution/drug mixture comprising a polymer dissolved in an organic solvent and a drug suspended in said solvent;
- (b) removing the solvent from the polymer solution/drug mixture, thereby forming a solid polymer/drug matrix;
- (c) fragmenting the solid polymer/drug matrix at a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the solid polymer/drug matrix, thereby forming polymer/drug matrix microparticles;
- and
- (d) compressing the polymer/drug matrix microparticles to produce a polymer/drug matrix mass.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.