Coating composition suitable for pharmaceutical or nutraceutical dosage forms

1. A coating composition suitable for coating a pharmaceutical or nutraceutical dosage form comprising one or more pharmaceutical or nutraceutical active ingredients, from which coating composition the release of the pharmaceutical or nutraceutical active ingredient is not more than 10% under in-vitro conditions at pH 1.2 after 2 hours in medium according to USP with and without the addition of 20% (v/v) ethanol, the coating composition comprising:

at least 20% by weight of an enteric core/shell polymer composition derived from an emulsion polymerisation process, whereby a core of polymerized particles is first formed by polymerization of the monomers comprising the polymer or copolymer of the core and a shell is subsequently formed on the surface of the core particles by polymerization of the monomers comprising the polymer or copolymer of the shell,

wherein the core of the core/shell polymer composition comprises a water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer, and the shell of the core/shell polymer composition comprises an anionic polymer or copolymer,

wherein the anionic polymer or copolymer consists essentially of:

(1) polymerized units of

from 10 to 40% by weight of acrylic or methacrylic acid,

from 10 to 50% by weight of ethyl acrylate,

from 10 to 80% by weight of a C4- to C18-alkyl ester of acrylic or methacrylic acid, and

optionally, from 0 to 20% by weight of methyl methacrylate; or

(2) polymerized units of

from 40 to 60% by weight methacrylic acid and 60 to 40% by weight ethyl acrylate; or

(3) polymerized units of

50% by weight methyl methacrylate and 50% by weight methacrylic acid; or

(4) polymerized units of

from 10 to 30% by weight methyl methacrylate, from 50 to 70% by weight methyl acrylate, and from 5 to 15% by weight methacrylic acid.

2. The coating composition according to claim 1 , further comprising up to 80% by weight of at least one pharmaceutical or nutraceutical excipient selected from the group consisting of an antioxidant, a brightener, a binding agent, a flavouring agent, a flow aid, a fragrance, a glidant, a penetration-promoting agent, a pigment, a plasticizer, a non-cross-linked polymer, a pore-forming agent, and a stabilizer.

3. The coating composition according to claim 1 , which exists as a solid phase of an aqueous dispersion having a solid content of from 1 to 60% by weight.

4. The coating composition according to claim 1 , which exists as a dry powder or a granulate.

5. The coating composition according to claim 1 , further comprising one or more pharmaceutical or nutraceutical active ingredients.

6. The coating according to claim 1 , wherein at least 20% by weight of an enteric core/shell polymer composition is derived from an emulsion polymerisation process whereby a core of polymerized particles is first formed by polymerization of the monomers for the polymer or copolymer of the core and a shell is subsequently formed on the surface of the core particles by polymerization of the monomers for the polymer or copolymer of the shell in the same reaction mixture.

7. The coating composition according to claim 1 , wherein the water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a crosslinked (meth)acrylate homopolymer and a crosslinked (meth)acrylate copolymer.

8. The coating composition according to claim 1 , wherein the water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a crosslinked polyvinyl homopolymer and a crosslinked polyvinyl copolymer.

9. The coating composition according to claim 1 , wherein the water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer is polymerized from n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) and a crosslinking monomer selected from the group consisting of (1) a monomer having more than one vinylic group, (2) a monomer having more than one allylic group, and (3) a monomer having at least one vinylic group and at least one allylic group.

10. The coating composition according to claim 1 , wherein the water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer is polymerized from methyl methacrylate (MMA) and a crosslinking monomer selected from the group consisting of (1) a monomer having more than one vinylic group, (2) a monomer having more than one allylic group, and (3) a monomer having at least one vinylic group and at least one allylic group.

11. The coating composition according to claim 1 , wherein the water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer is polymerized from n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) and a crosslinking ethyleneglycol-di-methacrylate (EGDMA) monomer.

12. The coating composition according to claim 1 , wherein the water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer is polymerized from methyl methacrylate (MMA) and a crosslinking ethyleneglycol-di-methacrylate (EGDMA) monomer.

13. The coating composition according to claim 1 , wherein the water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer is polymerized from 98-99.9% by weight of n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) and 0.1-2% by weight of a crosslinking ethyleneglycol-di-methacrylate (EGDMA) monomer.

14. The coating composition according to claim 1 , wherein the water-insoluble, cross-linked polymer or copolymer is polymerized from n-butyl methacrylate (n-BuMA) and a crosslinking ethyleneglycol-di-methacrylate (EGDMA) monomer.