Oral Controlled Release Formulation for Sedatives and Hypnotic Agents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel controlled release dosage form that releases therapeutic amounts of a sedative or hypnotic agent rapidly after administration and maintains therapeutic levels for about eight hours after administration.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 778,346 filed on Mar. 2, 2006.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to modified release dosage forms containing sedative and hypnotic agents, preferably short acting sedatives and hypnotic agents. The dosage form of the present invention should provide therapeutically effective amounts of the sedative or hypnotic agent relatively quickly and maintain therapeutic levels for about four to eight hours after administration.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]In todays fast pace, instant information society, there is an increase in stress and sleep disorders. A number of sedatives and hypnotics have been developed to manage and control stress and sleep disorders. Some of the more common sedatives and hypnotic agents commercially available are VALIUM, XANAX, AMBIEN, SONATA and LUNESTA. These commercially ava...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012]It is also an object of one embodiment of the present invention to provide a controlled release dosage form that is monophasic with respect to the sedative or hypnotic agent. As used herein, monophasic means that the sedative or hypnotic agent is present in a homogeneous or unitary form. For example the present invention, prior to administration, does not employ multiple layers or multiple components where the sedative or hypnotic agent is present in different concentrations, or with different excipients. The fact that the present invention is monophasic results in a much simpler manufacturing process than the process described in the prior art.

Problems solved by technology

These commercially available pharmaceutical products provide immediate release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient after administration allowing an immediate effect on the patient, however, they often do not maintain the effect long enough for a patient to obtain the recommended eight hours of sleep.

According to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,531, the bilayer tablet should release at least 40% of the zolpidem tartrate within 30 minutes when tested in a type II dissolution apparatus according to the U.S. Pharmacopoeia in 0.01M HCl buffer at 37° C. Bilayer tablets such as AMBIEN CR can be difficult to manufacture because they require the precise measurement of the drug into two distinct regions of a tablet press and the compressing of these distinct regions into a unitary tablet.

According to the product labeling for AMBIEN CR, a further drawback of the AMBIEN CR product is that bioavailability, as measured by area under the curve (AUC) and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), was decreased by at least 20% and the median time to maximum plasma concentration (Tmax) was increased from 2 to 4 hours when the AMBIEN CR bilayered tablet was administered within 30 minutes after a meal.

This decrease in bioavailability resulted in a slower or delayed onset of sleep.

As with the bilayered AMBIEN CR tablet, the multi-particulate dosage forms described in United States Published Patent Application No. 2004 / 0258750 can be difficult to manufacture.

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