Methods and formulations for the delivery of pharmacologically active agents

Abstract

In accordance with the present invention, novel formulations have been developed which are much more effective for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs to patients in need thereof than are prior art formulations. Invention formulations are capable of delivering more drug in shorter periods of time, with reduced side effects caused by the pharmaceutical carrier employed for delivery.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11 / 240,940, filed Sep. 29, 2005, now pending, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 146,706, filed May 14, 2002, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 628,388, filed Aug. 1, 2000, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,405, which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 08 / 926,155, filed Sep. 9, 1997, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,331, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 08 / 720,756, filed Oct. 1, 1996, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,596, and U.S. Ser. No. 08 / 485,448, filed Jun. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,382, which is, in turn, a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 08 / 200,235, filed Feb. 22, 1994, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,421, which is, in turn, a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 08 / 023,698, filed Feb. 22, 1993, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,686 and U.S. Ser. No. 08 / 035,150, filed Mar. 26, 1993, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,478, t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]In accordance with the present invention, novel formulations have been developed which are much more effective for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs to patients in need thereof than are prior art formulations. Invention formulations are capable of delivering more drug in shorter periods of time, with reduced side effects caused by the pharmaceutical carrier employed for delivery.

Problems solved by technology

In the quest for next generation therapies to treat cancer, scientist often discover promising compounds only to find that the molecule is highly insoluble in water, and hence impossible to deliver intravenously.

Such was the problem with paclitaxel, an extremely effective anti-tumor agent discovered over a quarter century ago by the Nation Cancer Institute.

The cremophor formulation of paclitaxel is associated with significant side-effects including life-threatening allergic reactions requiring the need for steroid pre-treatment for every patient receiving the drug, and severe infections as a result of lowering of white blood cells requiring the need for expensive blood cell growth factors.

Ultimately these toxicities result in dose-limitation of cremophor-based paclitaxel formulations, thus limiting the full potential of the very effective paclitaxel molecule.

While the above toxic side effects of cremophor paclitaxel formulations are well known, it has not been widely recognized by scientists in the field that the presence of cremophor creates a more serious impediment to realizing the maximal potential of paclitaxel by entrapping paclitaxel within the hydrophobic cores of cremophor micelles within microdroplets in the blood-stream.

Thus, increasing the doses of cremophor solutions of paclitaxel can potentially worsen the entrapment by raising the concentration of cremophor, leading to higher toxicities but none of the potential benefits of higher doses of paclitaxel, since much of the active molecule is unavailable to the intra-cellular space, where it is needed to act.

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