Osmotic device for delayed delivery of agent

• US 5,443,459 A
• Filed: 08/19/1993
• Issued: 08/22/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ALZA Corporation (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: ALZA Corporation (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Theeuwes, Felix, Dong, Liang C., Wong, Patrick S. L., Larsen, Steven D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosenbaum, C. Fred
• Assistant Examiner(s): MENDEZ, MANUEL A
• Application Number:
  US08/109,120
• Time in Patent Office: 733 Days
• Field of Search: 604/892.1, 604/891.1, 604/131, 604/141, 604/151, 424/438, 424/457
• US Class Current: 604/892.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 9/0004 Osmotic delivery systems; Sustained release driven by osmosis, thermal energy or gas
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 9/4808 characterised by the form of the capsule or the structure of the filling; Capsules containing small tablets; Capsules with outer layer for immediate drug release capsules filled with granules or microparticles A61K9/16; filled with microcapsules or coated microparticles A61K9/50; with mixture of different granules, microcapsules, (coated) microparticles A61K9/5084

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a fluid-imbibing dispensing device for the initially delayed delivery of an active agent to a fluid environment of use and to a method of using the dispensing device. The dispenser comprises a housing having a first wall section and a second wall section in reversibly sliding telescopic arrangement with each other, which housing maintains its integrity in the environment of use; an internal compartment surrounded and defined by the housing; at least one active agent formulation in the compartment; and expansion means and a push plate in the compartment for separating apart the first and second wall sections of the housing after exposure to the environment of use to expose the active agent formulation to the environment of use.

Claims

1. A dispensing device for providing a pulsed delivery of at least one active agent formulation to a fluid-containing environment of use, which device comprises a plurality of nested capsules, each succeeding capsule being nested within the preceding capsule, each capsule comprising a housing having a first wall section and a second wall section in reversibly sliding telescopic arrangement, which wall sections are assembled together to define an internal compartment which contains an active agent formulation and expansion means and the next succeeding capsule, if any, wherein at least one of said wall sections of each capsule is, at least in part, permeable to fluid in the environment of use, the arrangement being such that in said environment of use fluid enters into the internal compartment of the first outer capsule and interacts with said expansion means, thereby causing the expansion means to expand and to exert a separating force on the wall sections of said first capsule, whereby, after a period of time, said wall sections of said first capsule are disassembled from each other thereby exposing the contents of the said internal compartment to the said environment of use and allowing delivery of said active agent formulation therein and the ingress of fluid into the next succeeding capsule, thereby to provide the said pulsed delivery of active agent.