The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 24, 1997
Filed:
Jul. 01, 1994
Andrew R Clark, Half Moon Bay, CA (US);
Igor Gonda, San Francisco, CA (US);
Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA (US);
Abstract
Capsules (such as hard gelatin, cellulose and plastic capsules) containing pharmaceutical powders which are administered to a patient via inhalation are treated so as to increase the effective amount of the pharmaceutical agent reaching the respiratory system of the patient. The capsules are coated internally with a lubricant during manufacture and in one aspect, the method involves exposing the lubricant-coated inner surface of the capsule to a pharmaceutically acceptable solvent which dissolves the lubricant. Generally, the solvent is volatile, and bactericidal (e.g. ethanol). The pharmaceutical powder is inserted in the capsule following this washing procedure. Alternatively, the lubricant-coated capsule is dusted internally with a dusting agent such as a salt (e.g. sodium chloride) or a sugar (e.g. lactose, mannitol, trehalose or sucrose) prior to inserting the pharmaceutical powder inside the capsule. The invention also pertains to a capsule, optionally containing the pharmaceutical powder therein, which has been treated according to the methods discussed above.