Mini-Tablet Sustained Release System for Veterinary Drug Delivery

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing drug delivery systems face limitations in achieving high threshold blood plasma levels and sustained release over extended periods, particularly for large animals, due to insufficient drug carrying capacity and the risk of 'dose dumping' with larger implants, which can be harmful or impractical.

Innovation Solution

A sustained release pharmaceutical composition in mini-tablet form, with a pharmaceutically active composition and carrier, providing a significantly reduced payload relative to immediate release treatments, allowing for a prolonged release profile and achieving the required threshold blood levels with multiple mini-tablets, which are biodegradable and can be administered subcutaneously or intramuscularly.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If the size of the drug delivery system is increased to achieve higher drug carrying capacity, then the payload is improved, but the risk of dose dumping increases which may be harmful or lethal

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedrug carrying capacityVSAvoiddose dumping risk
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the drug delivery system into multiple mini-tablets (each containing a sustained release support material with pharmaceutical active) instead of using a single large implant. This segmentation allows the total drug payload to be distributed across multiple smaller units, each releasing drug at controlled rates, thereby achieving high cumulative payload while preventing dose dumping that would occur with a single large system.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Quantity of substance

If the size of the drug delivery system is increased to achieve higher drug carrying capacity, then the payload is improved, but the implant becomes too large for subcutaneous placement in the ear

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedrug carrying capacityVSAvoidimplant size
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the drug delivery system into multiple mini-tablets (each containing a sustained release support material with pharmaceutical active) instead of using a single large implant. This segmentation allows the total drug payload to be distributed across multiple smaller units, each releasing drug at controlled rates, thereby achieving high cumulative payload while preventing dose dumping that would occur with a single large system.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Quantity of substance

If multiple implants are used to achieve the required threshold blood level, then the pharmaceutical payload is improved, but the total bulk of the implants increases which limits their use

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepharmaceutical payloadVSAvoidtotal bulk of implants
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSVolume of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines multiple drug delivery functions into a single integrated mini-tablet system. Each mini-tablet contains sustained release support material with pharmaceutical active embedded throughout, allowing multiple implants to be administered without proportionally increasing total bulk, as each unit is highly efficient at sustained release.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

4Quantity of substance

If a sustained release system is used to reduce the amount of pharmaceutical active, then the payload is reduced, but the release rate may be insufficient to achieve high threshold blood plasma levels

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepharmaceutical active amountVSAvoidrelease rate
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent modifies the parameters of the sustained release support material (porosity, surface area, material composition) to optimize the release rate. By changing these physical parameters, the system achieves both reduced total payload requirements and maintained high release rates sufficient to achieve threshold blood plasma levels.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The sustained release support material has a porous structure that controls drug release kinetics. The porosity allows for sustained release of the pharmaceutical active while maintaining sufficient release rates to achieve therapeutic blood plasma levels, even with reduced total payload.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #31Porous materials

Data Source

PatentUS8197839B2Sustained release delivery system
Publication Date: 2012.06.12 VIRBAC INC

AI summary

A sustained release apparatus including at least one sustained release mini tablet implant; the or each mini tablet implant including a pharmaceutically active composition including at least one pharmaceutically active component; and a carrier therefor, wherein the or each tablet implant is of the coated tablet or covered rod type; the or each mini tablet implant being approximately 0.1 to 0.5 times the length and/or diameter of a single immediate release tablet capable of providing the desired threshold blood level depending on the pharmaceutical active selected, and having a payload of approximately 30% to 70% by weight of the total payload of an equivalent immediate release treatment conducted for an equivalent period; the sustained release apparatus providing, in use, zero order release of pharmaceutical active.