Sustained release drug delivery devices, methods of use, and methods of manufacturing thereof

Abstract

A method and device for treating a mammalian organism to obtain a desired local or systemic physiological or pharmacological effect is provided. The method includes administering a sustained release drug delivery system to a mammalian organism in need of such treatment at an area wherein release of an effective agent is desired and allowing the effective agent to pass through the device in a controlled manner. The device includes an inner core or reservoir including the effective agent, an impermeable tube which encloses portions of the reservoir, and a permeable member at an end of the tube.

Description

[0001] This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08 / 919,221, by Chen et al., filed Aug. 28, 1997, entitled Sustained Release Drug Delivery Devices, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,598, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.[0002] 1. Field of the Invention[0003] The present invention relates to a novel sustained release drug delivery device, and more particularly to a multilayered drug delivery device.[0004] 2. Brief Description of the Related Art[0005] Over the years, various drugs have been developed to assist in the treatment of a wide variety of ailments and diseases. However, in many instances such drugs are not capable of being administered either orally or intravenously without the risk of various deleterious side effects.[0006] For example, intravenous ganciclovir (GCV) is effective in the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS patients, but bone marrow toxicity limits its usefulness. The incidence of neutropenia (absolute neutr...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0030] Another object of the present invention is to provide an ocular device suitable for direct implantation into the vitreous of the eye. Such devices of the present invention are surprisingly found to provide sustained controlled release of various compositions to treat the eye without risk of detrimental local and systemic side effects.

[0031] Another object of the present invention is to maximize the amount of drug contained in an intraocular device while minimizing its size in order to prolong the duration of the implant.

[0032] Another object of the present invention is to provide an ocular delivery system that could be applied to an intra-ocular lens to prevent inflammation or posterior capsular opacification.

Problems solved by technology

However, in many instances such drugs are not capable of being administered either orally or intravenously without the risk of various deleterious side effects.

For example, intravenous ganciclovir (GCV) is effective in the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS patients, but bone marrow toxicity limits its usefulness.

Other problems associated with systemic GCV administration include the risk of sepsis related to permanent indwelling catheters and the inability to receive concurrent therapy with zidovudine (AZT) which has been shown to prolong life and improve the immune function in AIDS patients.

Frequently the concentration may actually reach some toxic threshold.

Frequently, drug levels decrease so low that therapeutic levels are no longer maintained.

With matrix systems, zero-order release is very difficult to achieve.

It has been generally found to be extremely difficult to use this approach to achieve a zero-order release, as most polymers do not undergo zero-order degradation.

While these capillary openings in this construction are effective for releasing certain drugs to the eye, they add considerable complexity to the manufacture of the device because it is difficult to control the size of these openings in large scale manufacturing using various polymers.

Nonetheless, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,335, certain problems have been identified with such devices such as the difficult task of sealing the margins of the membrane to form the container.

In addition, stresses and strains introduced into the membrane walls from deformation during manufacturing of those devices may cause the reservoir to rupture and leak.

However, there are many disadvantages associated with their use including the fact that it is often times difficult to obtain the desired release rate of the drug.

While the devices described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,475 solve many of the aforementioned problems pertaining to drug delivery, the devices and the method of making the devices are not without problems.

In particular, polymers suitable for coating the inner core are frequently relatively soft and technical difficulties can arise in production of uniform films.

In such case, relatively thick films must be applied to achieve uninterrupted and uniform coatings, which adds significant bulk to the device.

Thus, the devices tend to be larger than necessary as a result of the thickness needed to seal the ends of the inner core.

While effective in delivering drugs in situ, some manufacturing difficulties have limited scaled up manufacturing of these devices.

For example, the impermeable inner coating layer of the devices of the aforementioned application, which immediately surrounds the drug reservoir, is typically formed of a material the thickness of which results in a layer which is not capable of supporting its own weight.

While beneficial from the standpoint of reducing the overall size of the device, and while still sealing the drug reservoir, goals well-addressed in the aforementioned patent, the relative flaccidity of this inner layer makes it difficult to load the device's reservoir with a drug solution, drug slurry, or drug suspension.

Because this inner layer is essentially structurally incapable of maintaining its shape without significant collapse, i.e., does not have the dimensional stability or structural ability to accept a drug core inserted therein without changing shape, a relatively solid drug or drug-containing mixture must be used in order to manufacture the device.

Loading a drug slurry onto this inner layer during manufacture which does not hold its own shape results in the combination of the drug slurry and inner layer being extremely difficult to handle without damaging it, because the inner layer collapses and the drug-containing mixture flows out.

Larger devices require more complex surgery to both implant and remove.

The increased complexity may result in complications, longer healing or recovery periods, and potential side effects (e.g., increased chance of astigmatism).

Furthermore, the extra polymer required to achieve a uniform coating reduces the potential volume of the implant and hence limits the amount of drug that can be delivered, potentially limiting both efficacy and duration.

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