Inventors:
Ben Fan - Somerville MA, US
Roland S. Koltzenburg - Dannstadt, DE
Jens B. Rieger - Ludwigshafen, DE
David A. Weitz - Bolton MA, US
Assignee:
BASF SE - Ludwigshafen
President and Fellows of Harvard College - Cambridge MA
International Classification:
A61K 31/565
A61K 9/14
A61K 31/58
Abstract:
The present invention generally relates to particles for drug delivery and other applications. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a technique for reacting precursor compounds in the presence of a pharmaceutically-active agent to form product (e.g., in the form of particles) in which the agent is substantially contained within the product, and the product is soluble within typical gastric fluid of a mammal. In another aspect, the present invention is generally directed to particles comprising an inorganic pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, such as CaCO, and an agent. In some cases, at least some of the agent contained within the particles is fluidically inaccessible from externally of the particle. For instance, the agent may be present in isolated domains within the particle. In another aspect, the present invention is generally directed to methods of creating particles. For instance, according to one set of embodiments, two fluids containing reactants are mixed where, upon reaction of the reactants, an insoluble product is formed, which precipitates to form particles. In one example, a first fluid containing dissolved carbonate ions and a second fluid containing dissolved calcium ions and a pharmaceutically-active agent are mixed together; upon mixing of the first and second fluids, the calcium ions and the carbonate ions form calcium carbonate, which precipitates to form a co-precipitate with the pharmaceutically-active agent. Yet other aspects of the present invention are directed to particles formed from such reactions, methods of using such reactions, methods of promoting such reactions, kits involving particles, or the like.