Takeda Chemical Industries, Inc.

Morimoto-pharma Co., Ltd.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Mii, Inc.

Unitec Co., Ltd.

Pharma-tech Co., Ltd.

Unimetal Co., Ltd.

Cmc-pharma Co., Ltd

Shuji Morimoto

Tetsuro Tabata

Toshihiro Shimizu

Makoto Takehara

Seiji Ohtani

Nobuyoshi Tanaka

Yutaka Sakuma

Takeichiro Sogo

Masao Nozaki

Junichi Kikuta

Naoru Hamaguchi

Jotaro Kishimoto

Kotaro Wakamatsu

Haruhiko Yoshida

Yasutaro Wada

Masakazu Oi

Hiyoshi Doi

Haruo Iijima

Shiro Sato

Masato Kobayashi

Kazuhiro Okochi

Hirosi Yamauti

Jyotaro Kishimoto

Hiroshi Yamauchi

Masaho Mikami

A freeze-dried product continuously manufactured by being dried while smoothly moving in a state of receiving a mechanical force in a freeze-drying apparatus. The freeze-drying apparatusincludes a freezing unitfor producing a frozen substance by spraying a raw material solution; and a drying unitfor drying the frozen substance. The drying unithas a tubular shape and includes a tubular memberkept in a vacuum state, and a spiral wall or groove portion is formed on an inner wall of the tubular membercontinuously in a longitudinal direction of the tubular member. A heat is transferred to the inner wall of the tubular memberand the spiral wall or groove portion. The tubular memberis configured to be rotated to transfer the freeze-dried product in the longitudinal direction of the tubular memberand sublimate or dry the freeze-dried product. A flow-start angle is less than 44 degrees or a repose angle is less than 55 degrees and larger than the flow-start angle, and a residual amount is 3 g or less with respect to 10 g of the raw material solution fed into freeze-drying apparatus when a length of the tubular memberis 30 cm in the longitudinal direction.

Freeze-dried product

Provided are a vacuum freeze-drying apparatus and a method capable of continuously performing vacuum freeze-drying in a short time. A vacuum freeze-drying apparatusof this invention having an exhaust path for performing vacuum suction, while a drying devicecomprises a tubular memberprovided an inlet portion and an outlet portion formed of a tubular shape, a temperature adjusting meanstoprovided in a plurality of regions formed from the inlet portion toward the outlet portion in a peripheral portion of the tubular memberwherein the plurality of regions are at least three or more regions whose temperature is capable of being controlled, for adjusting temperatures of a plurality of regionstoin outer surface of the tubular member, a temperature control unitfor independently controlling the temperature adjusting means, and a rotating portionfor rotating the tubular member, wherein the tubular memberhas a spiral transfer meanscontinuously provided adjacent to an inner wall of the tubular member from the inlet portion toward the outlet portion, and the transfer meanstransfers the frozen substance sequentially to locations corresponding to the plurality of regions in the tubular member so as to continuously sublimate and dry.

Vacuum freeze-drying apparatus and vacuum freeze-drying method

Provided is a vacuum freeze-drying apparatus, having a drying deviceprovided with an inlet portion and an outlet portion and comprising a tubular memberformed of a tubular shape, a temperature adjusting meanstoprovided in a plurality of regionstoin a direction from the inlet portion to the outlet portion in a peripheral portion of the tubular member for adjusting a temperature of the plurality of regions in an outer surface of the tubular member, a temperature control unitfor independently controlling the temperature adjusting means, and a rotating portionfor rotating the tubular member, wherein the tubular member has a spiral transfer meansfor transferring the frozen substance entering from the inlet portion sequentially to locations corresponding to the plurality of regions in the tubular member to continuously sublimate and dry the frozen substance.

Provided is a jelly for assisting in taking a drug that reduces a possibility of aspiration and makes it possible to deliver a drug efficiently to the digestive tract without remaining in the throat. Contained are a gelling agent including LM pectin, agar, and other thickening polysaccharide and a gelling promoter to gel and is taken mixed with the drug when taking the drug; LM pectin is contained 1-3 wt % relative to the jelly for assisting in taking the drug; the properties at 20&#xb1;2&#xb0; C. of a jelly produced by chopping the jelly for assisting in taking the drug are a hardness of 2000-6000 N/m, adhesiveness of 200-500 J/m, and cohesiveness of 0.2-0.6; and the water separation from the jelly 10 minutes after chopping the jelly for assisting in taking the drug is 3 wt % or less relative to the jelly for assisting in taking the drug.

Jelly for assisting in taking drug

An orally disintegrable tablet, of the present invention, which comprises (i) fine granules having an average particle diameter of 400 &#x3bc;m or less, which fine granules comprise a composition coated by an enteric coating layer, said composition having 10 weight % or more of an acid-labile physiologically active substance and (ii) an additive, has superior disintegrability or dissolution in the oral cavity so that it can be used for treatment or prevention of various diseases, as an orally disintegrable tablet capable of being administered to the aged or children and easily administered without water. Also, because the tablet of the present invention contains fine granules having the average particle diameter such that it will not impart roughness in mouth, it can be administered easily without discomfort at the administration.

Orally disintegrable tablets

To provide a medication storage cell that can be easily opened by a person who cannot dexterously move his or her fingertips. A small-medication storage cell () is provided with an accommodating section () and an interlocking piece (). The accommodating section () has an outlet for a medication (). The outlet () is formed using a sheet () provided with an interlocking piece, and a cover sheet (). The interlocking piece () has a base section () and a tip end section (). At least a part of the base section () is separated from the surface of the accommodating section (). The tip end section () is fastened to the accommodating section () in a bent state so that the cover sheet () and the sheet () provided with an interlocking piece close the outlet ().

Medication storage cell

A container for an orally ingested pharmaceutical composition has, in a container body, a pharmaceutical composition chamber, a chamber for an auxiliary substance for the pharmaceutical composition chamber, and a chamber for the auxiliary substance for a cap. The container for an orally ingested pharmaceutical composition is provided with said cap in addition to a container body. An inter-chamber portion seals the pharmaceutical composition chamber from the chamber for the auxiliary substance for the chamber. A boundary portion seals the chamber for the cap auxiliary substance from the inside of the cap. By the inter-chamber portion and the boundary portion being bent, one end of the container body is removably inserted into the cap.

Container for orally ingested pharmaceutical composition

A material to be dried is frozen and is efficiently freeze-dried in a short time, thereby increasing production efficiency. A freeze-drying apparatus includes a vertical tube () having an inner circumferential surface formed with a frozen surface (), a liquid-supply device () for supplying a liquid material to be dried () onto the frozen surface (), a freezing device () arranged around the vertical tube () and intended for cooling the frozen surface (), a pressure-reduction device () which puts an interior area of the vertical tube () into a state of vacuum, and an internal heating device () in the vertical tube (). The internal heating device () is arranged in the vertical tube () along a center axis thereof, and has an outer surface formed with a vertically long circular-cylindrical radiation surface (). The liquid material to be dried () supplied from the liquid-supply device () is sprinkled onto the frozen surface (), and the frozen surface () is cooled to freeze the dried material () into a shape of a pipe. Then, the interior area of the vertical tube () is pressure-reduced to supply radiation heat from the internal heating device () to the dried material () for freeze-drying the dried material ().

Freeze-drying method and freeze-drying apparatus

A powder filling apparatus that can prevent a screw portion of an auger screw from contacting an inner surface of a metering portion at a funnel lower end portion. The powder filling apparatus includes a funnel that contains powder, and a circular-cylindrical metering portion provided at a lower end portion of the funnel, an auger screw arranged vertically, and a support device that supports the auger screw rotatably. The auger screw has a lower end provided with a screw portion that is arranged within the metering portion. The funnel is suspended from the support device and supported thereto and the metering portion has a center axis made substantially coincident with an axis of rotation of the auger screw.

Powder filling device

An orally disintegrable tablet of the present invention, which comprises (i) fine granules having an average particle diameter of 400 &#x3bc;m or less, which fine granules comprise a composition coated by an enteric coating layer, said composition having 10 weight % or more of an acid-labile physiologically active substance and (ii) an additive, has superior disintegrability or dissolution in the oral cavity so that it can be used for treatment or prevention of various diseases, as an orally disintegrable tablet capable of being administered to the aged or children and easily administered without water. Also, because the tablet of the present invention contains fine granules having the average particle diameter such that it will not impart roughness in mouth, it can be administered easily without discomfort at the administration.

An object ( ) to be packed is sandwiched between sheet-like package materials ( ). A weakly-sealed portion ( ) is formed so as to surround the packed object ( ) while leaving a grip flap ( ) for each of the package materials ( ), thereby forming a bag portion ( ) which accommodates the packed object ( ) within the weakly-sealed portion ( ). The grip flap ( ) has a length (L) set to about 20 mm for easy handling. The weakly-sealed portion ( ) can be peeled by grasping and pulling the grip flap ( ) to take out the packed object ( ) within the bag portion ( ).

Peelable package and peelable packaging method

An orally disintegrable tablet, of the present invention, which comprises (i) fine granules having an average particle diameter of 400 &mgr;m or less, which fine granules comprise a composition coated by an enteric coating layer, said composition having 10 weight % or more of an acid-labile physiologically active substance and (ii) an additive, has superior disintegrability or dissolution in the oral cavity so that it can be used for treatment or prevention of various diseases, as an orally disintegrable tablet capable of being administered to the aged or children and easily administered without water. Also, because the tablet of the present invention contains fine granules having the average particle diameter such that it will not impart roughness in mouth, it can be administered easily without discomfort at the administration.

A needle connecting portion of a syringe which includes a drug accommodating chamber accommodating a first component is arranged opposite to a takeout port of a hermetically closed container which includes a container chamber accommodating a second component. The syringe is connected to the container through a connector so as to be movable in mutual proximity and adapted to be separable from the connector. There is provided a communication passage capable of communicating the drug accommodating chamber with the container chamber. The communication passage is cut off by a closure member arranged between both of the chambers. The syringe and the container chamber are moved in proximity to each other, thereby displacing the closure member so as to open the communication passage. An injector of the present invention is compact in shape but can surely retain sterility while being stored and surely mix both of the components accommodated therein through a simple operation just before administration. Further, it can prevent the sharpness of an injection needle from being damaged at the time of a mixing operation and easily remove a syringe after the mixing operation.

Dual-chamber type injector and connector used therefor

A transfer device for transferring solid articles, comprising: a cylindrical member which has a supply opening formed at one end portion and a discharge opening formed at the other end portion, such that an angle formed between an axis of the cylindrical member and a horizontal plane is not more than 75.degree.; a transfer member which is rotatably provided in the cylindrical member; the transfer member including a rotary shaft extending along the axis of the cylindrical member and a helical vane projecting from a peripheral surface of the rotary shaft such that lead angle of the helical vane at its outer peripheral edge ranges from 3.degree. to 25.degree.; and a drive member so as to rotate the transfer member about the axis of the cylindrical member at a rotational speed of not more than 500 r.p.m.

Growing community of inventors

Suita, Japan

Shuji Morimoto