Taste-masked drugs in rupturing multiparticulates

1. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a plurality of multiparticulates, each of said multiparticulates comprising:

(a) a core comprising a drug, said core being surrounded by a coating selected from the group consisting of (i) a water-permeable, substantially drug impermeable coating and (ii) an anti-enteric coating;

(b) said core further comprising a dissolution enhancer and a matrix material that is solid at 25° C. and having a melting point lower than the melting point of said drug and being present in an amount of at least 30 wt % of said core and wherein said matrix material is selected from the group consisting of alkyl-containing glycerols, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and mixtures thereof;

(c) said core further comprising a water-swellable swelling agent, said water-swellable swelling agent being capable of imbibing fluid and swelling so as to rupture said coating or disintegrate said core, thereby releasing said drug.

2. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a plurality of multiparticulates, each of said multiparticulates comprising

(a) a core comprising a drug, said core being surrounded by a coating selected from the group consisting of (i) a water-permeable, substantially drug impermeable coating and (ii) an anti-enteric coating; and,

(b) said core comprising a matrix material that is solid at 25° C. and having a melting point lower than the melting point of said drug and being present in an amount of at least 30 wt % of said core and wherein said matrix material is selected from the group consisting of alkyl-containing glycerols, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and mixtures thereof;

(c) said multiparticulates have a volume-weighted mean diameter after coating of less than 150 μm; and

(d) said core further comprising a dissolution enhancer and a water-swellable swelling agent present in an amount of from 5 wt % to 30 wt % of said core, wherein said water-swellable swelling agent is capable of imbibing fluid and swelling so as to rupture said coating or disintegrate said core, thereby releasing said drug.

3. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said water-swellable swelling agent is capable of increasing in volume by a factor of at least 2 within one hour in an in vitro simulated gastric use environment consisting of 0.01 M HCl and 0.12 M NaCl in deionized water.

4. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said swelling agent is selected from the group consisting of croscarmellose sodium, sodium starch glycolate, and crospovidone.

5. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said coating is selected from the group consisting of ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, and hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, polymethacrylates, polyethylene glycol, polyethylene oxide, polypropylene glycol, polyethylene-polypropylene glycol copolymers, polyvinyl pyrrolidinone, starch, dextran, dextrin, polydextrose, polyalkenes, polyethers, polysulfones, polyethersulfones, polystyrenes, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl halides, polyvinyl ethers, paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax, and synthetic wax.

6. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said coating comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of ethyl cellulose and polymethacrylate.

7. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said coating is an antienteric coating and comprises a material selected from the group consisting of butyl methacrylate/(2-dimethylaminoethyl)methacrylate/methyl methacrylate copolymer and polyvinylacetal diethylaminoacetate.

8. The composition of claim 7 wherein said coating comprises a butyl methacrylate/(2-dimethylaminoethyl)methacrylate/methyl methacrylate copolymer.

9. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said drug and said swelling agent are encapsulated within said matrix.

10. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said matrix material is selected from the group consisting of glyceryl monooleate, glyceryl monostearate, glyceryl palmitostearate, mono-, di-, and trialkyl glycerides, glyceryl monobehenate, glyceryl dibehenate, glyceryl tribehenate, glyceryl tristearate, glyceryl tripalmitate, and mixtures thereof.

11. The composition of claim 1 wherein said multiparticulates have a volume-weighted mean diameter after coating of less than 150 μm.

12. The composition of claim 1 or 2 incorporated into a compressed dosage form.

13. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said drug is selected from the group consisting of cetirizine, azithromycin, eletriptan, valdecoxib and caffeine.

14. The composition of claim 1 or 2 wherein said drug is a low solubility drug having an aqueous solubility at pH 1-8 of 1 mg/mL or less.