Abstract: A method of producing a fast-dissolving pharmaceutical delivery device of moderate strength. The delivery device is a fully formed tablet composed of readily available sugars, strength polymers and a volatilizable excipient along with an active ingredient and optional flavorings. The tablet as made will disintegrate in an aqueous medium such as saliva in under 15 seconds, making mastication unnecessary or at least requiring only one or two bites on the tablet. Essential to the invention is the easily obtainable particle size ranges of the sugars and the volatilizable excipient which promotes optimum release and tablet strength. The invention also allows for effective taste masking of the active ingredient with standard particle coating techniques.

Abstract: A method of producing a fast-dissolving pharmaceutical delivery device of moderate strength. The delivery device is a fully formed tablet composed of readily available sugars, strength polymers and a volatilizable excipient along with an active ingredient and optional flavorings. The tablet as made will disintegrate in an aqueous medium such as saliva in under 15 seconds, making mastication unnecessary or at least requiring only one or two bites on the tablet. Essential to the invention is the easily obtainable particle size ranges of the sugars and the volatilizable excipient which promotes optimum release and tablet strength. The invention also allows for effective taste masking of the active ingredient with standard particle coating techniques.

Abstract: This relates to the provision of a vacuum actuated button type closure with a tamper indicating arrangement which will visually indicate when a container has been opened or more particularly when the vacuum within a vacuum packed container has been lost. The deflectable button of the closure is utilized to squeeze a dye from a sponge like member into a layer of absorbent material so as to color the absorbent material. The absorbent material, in turn, is provided with non-absorbent areas which define indicia to indicate that an associated container has been opened.

Abstract: A composition which is stable in a medium in which the pH is greater than or equal to 5.5 and which permits the release of an active substance in a medium in which the pH is less than or equal to 3.5, comprising the active substance, which contains inclusions of, or which is completely or partially covered by, a pH sensitive material whose extent and/or rate of swelling is greater in an acidic medium than in a neutral medium, and a coating of a hydrophobic layer.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for the formation of granules of a larger size or mass of a desired range from a feed stock of smaller particles comprising feeding a meltable powdery material to be granulated, or a non-meltable powdery material with a meltable binder to the surface of a rotating spreader means in the form of a disk or bowl, at least a portion of which has been heated to a temperature above the melting point of the meltable component of the feed material wherein the rate of feeding, the energy input to the spreader means and the rotational speed of the spreader means are controlled so that there is sufficient time for at least a partial melting of the meltable component of the feed material substantially solely by contact with the heated surface of the spreader means, centrifugally spreading the material across the surface of the disk or bowl and dispersing the same from the edge thereof into an atmosphere cooler than the melting temperature to form the granulated product.

Abstract: Solid particles or viscous liquid droplets of core material are encapsulated in a coating material largely as single particles with a single coherent coating, by feeding a suspension of the two materials onto a rotating surface. The suspension is centrifugally dispersed by the rotating surface into relatively large coated particles and relatively small droplets of coating material. Only the size of the droplets of unused coating corresponds to the droplets formed from atomization of the liquid coating material. The size of the coated particles depends on the size of the uncoated particles and is much less dependent upon the atomization characteristics of the rotating surface. Upon being thrown from the rotating surface, or falling from that surface, the droplets and coated particles are solidified by exposure to air and are separated by sieving, or the like. The solidified droplets of pure coating material may be recycled into the suspension.

Abstract: Microcapsules particularly those less than 300 microns in size are provided which are adapted for injection by conventional means to afford controlled release of the encapsulated drug material, such as a narcotic antagonist, an antibiotic or the like, over a prolonged period. The microcapsules are characterized by a solid core material of a solid, injectable drug material and a wall material engulfing the core material and composed of a polymer material such as a bioabsorbable polymer material. The microcapsules are made by providing a system containing a mixture of particles of a solid, injectable drug material and a solution of a bioabsorbable polymer material in a solvent in which the drug material is substantially insoluble. The system is treated to induce phase separation of the bioabsorbable polymer material from the solution by the addition to the system of a phase separation agent at a temperature at least as low as -30.degree. C.

Abstract: The pore size distribution of a microporous separation medium, such as a membrane or gel, is modified so as to provide it with a sharp upper cut-off of preselected molecular size. The modification is effected by first filling the pores of the separation medium with a volatile liquid, and then evaporating a controlled amount of the volatile liquid to form voids at the entrances to the pores. A concentrated solution of a cross-linkable or polymerizable pore-blocking agent, such as a protein, enzyme or polymeric material, is then applied to the surface of the separation medium. The pore-blocking agent is a material which is insoluble in the volatile liquid and whose molecular size distribution has a lower limit corresponding to the preselected molecular size, whereby the pore-blocking agent selectively enters only those pores larger than the preselected size and remains in the voids at the entrances to the pores.

Abstract: Aluminum hydrogels which are stabilized at pH below 7 with a polymer containingcarboxyl groups, e.g., carboxy methyl cellulose or gum arabic. The gels are useful as phosphate binding agents in the treatment of hyperphosphatemia. Such polymers are incorporated during the formation of the aluminum hydrogel, permitting a high yield to be obtained, and preventing colloidal sol formation during exchange with monovalent anions.