Buccal drug delivery

1. A method of making a lozenge for buccal delivery of a drug, said method comprising:

(a) mixing:

(a)(i) a gum;

(a)(ii) one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols; and

(a)(iii) water;

(b) heating the mixture of step (a) to obtain a homogeneous mass;

(c) adding a drug to the homogeneous mass of step (b);

(d) optionally adding one or more components selected from the group consisting of flavorings, taste masking agents, colourings, buffer components, pH adjusting agents, stabilizers and sweetners to the mixtures of steps (a), (b) or (c); and

(e) moulding the drug mixture of step (c) or (d) to form lozenges, whereby the lozenges have an amorphous structure and contain less than 10 wt % sucrose and wherein the gum (a)(i) is 40-90 wt % and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii) is 60-10 wt % based upon the weight of gum (a)(i) and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii).

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the gum (a)(i) is 50-80 wt % and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii) is 50-20 wt % based upon the weight of gum (a)(i) and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii).

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the gum (a)(i) is 55-75 wt % and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii) is 45-25 wt % based upon the weight of gum (a)(i) and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii).

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the gum is selected from the group consisting of gum acacia, gum arabic, carob gum, carrageenan, ghatti gum, guar gum, karaya gum, pectin, tragacanth gum, locust bean gum, xanthan gum or mixtures thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of water in step (a) is sufficient to ensure the gum (a)(i) and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii) are fully dissolved during step (b).

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the non-crystallising sugar or non-crystallising sugar alcohol (a)(ii) is selected from the group consisting of sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, mannitol, isomalt or mixtures thereof.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the non-crystallising sugar or non-crystallising sugar alcohol (a)(ii) is a non-crystallising form of sorbitol, a non-crystallising form of xylitol or a mixture of a non-crystallising form of sorbitol and a non-crystallising form of xylitol.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the drug is selected from the group consisting of nicotine, an anti-emetic, an agent for migraine treatment, or an analgesic.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the drug is nicotine.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the lozenge exhibits a dissolution profile such that after 20 minutes, 35-65% of the lozenge has dissolved; after 40 minutes 60-90% of the lozenge has dissolved; and after 60 minutes, more than 70% of the lozenge has dissolved.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein step (b) heats the mixture of step (a) to at least 90° C.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein step (b) heats the mixture of step (a) to approximately 110-120° C.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of adding one or more buffering agents to the mixture of steps (a), (b), (c) or (d).

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of adding a pH adjustment agent to the mixture of steps (a), (b,) (c) or (d) to adjust the pH to approximately 7.5-9.0.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of reducing the temperature of the heated homogeneous mass of step (b) to 100° C. or less before adding the drug in step (c).

16. A method of making a lozenge for buccal delivery of a drug, said method comprising:

(a) mixing:

(a)(i) a gum selected from the group consisting of gum acacia, gum arabic, carob gum, carrageenan, ghatti gum, guar gum, karaya gum, pectin, tragacanth gum, locust bean gum, xanthan gum or mixtures thereof;

(a)(ii) one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols selected from the group consisting of sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, mannitol, isomalt or mixtures thereof; and

(a)(iii) water in an amount sufficient to ensure the gum (a)(i) and one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii) are fully dissolved during step (b);

(b) heating the mixture of step (a) to a temperature of at least 90° C. to 120° C. to obtain a homogeneous mass;

(c) cooling the homogeneous mass of step (b) to 90° C. or lower;

(d) adding a drug selected from the group consisting of nicotine, an anti-emetic, an anti-migraine or an analgesic to the cooled homogeneous mass of step (c);

(e) optionally adding one or more components selected from the group consisting of flavorings, taste masking agents, colourings, buffer components, pH adjusting agents, stabilizers and sweetners to the mixtures of steps (a), (b), (c) or (d); and

(f) moulding the mass of step (d) or (e) to form lozenges, whereby the lozenges have an amorphous structure, contain less than 10 wt % sucrose and wherein the gum (a)(i) is 50-80 wt % and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii) is 50-20 wt % based upon the weight of gum (a)(i) and the one or more non-crystallising sugars or non-crystallising sugar alcohols (a)(ii).

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the lozenge exhibits a dissolution profile such that after 20 minutes, 35-65% of the lozenge has dissolved; after 40 minutes 60-90% of the lozenge has dissolved; and after 60 minutes, more than 70% of the lozenge has dissolved.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein step (b) heats the mixture of step (a) to approximately 110-120° C.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of adding one or more buffering agents to the mixture of steps (a), (b), (c) or (d).

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of adding a pH adjustment agent to the mixture of steps (a), (b), (c) or (d) to adjust the pH to approximately 7.5-9.0.

21. A method of making a lozenge for buccal delivery of nicotine, said method comprising:

(a) mixing:

(a)(i) a gum selected from the group consisting of gum acacia, gum arabic or mixtures thereof;

(a)(ii) a non-crystallising form of sorbitol, a non-crystallizing form of xylitol or a mixture of a non-crystallising form of sorbitol and a non-crystallising form of xylitol; and

(a)(iii) water in an amount sufficient to ensure the gum (a)(i) and the non-crystallising form of sorbitol, the non-crystallizing form of xylitol or the mixture of the non-crystallising from of sorbitol and the non-crystallising form of xylitol (a)(ii) are fully dissolved during step (b);

(b) heating the mixture of step (a) to a temperature of at least 90° C. to 120° C. to obtain a homogeneous mass;

(c) cooling the homogeneous mass of step (b) to 90° C. or lower;

(d) adding nicotine to the cooled homogeneous mass of step (c);

(e) adding one or more alkali metal phosphate salt buffering agents to the mixture of steps (a), (b), (c) or (d);

(f) optionally adding a pH adjustment agent to the mixture of steps (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) to adjust the pH to approximately 7.5-9.0;

(g) optionally adding one or more components selected from the group consisting of flavorings, taste masking agents, colourings, stabilizers and sweetners prior to the mixtures of steps (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f); and

(h) moulding the mass of steps (e) (f) or (g) to form lozenges, whereby the lozenges have an amorphous structure, contain less than 10 wt % sucrose and wherein the gum (a)(i) is 50-80 wt % and the non-crystallising form of sorbitol, the non-crystallizing form of xylitol or the mixture of the non-crystallising form of sorbitol and the non-crystallising form of xylitol (a)(ii) is 50-20 wt % based upon the weight of (a)(i) and (a)(ii).