Compositions for delivery of drug combinations

1. A pharmaceutical composition for parenteral administration, comprising particulate delivery vehicles having associated therewith at least a first antineoplastic agent and a second antineoplastic agent, wherein said first and second agents are in a mole ratio which exhibits a non-antagonistic cytotoxic or cytostatic effect in an in vitro assay, over at least 20% of the concentration range over which the fraction of cells affected is 0.2-0.8; and wherein said first and second agents are associated with the delivery vehicles to maintain said non-antagonistic ratio in the blood for at least one hour after administration,

wherein said delivery vehicles comprise

liposomes, and/or

lipid micelles, and/or

block copolymer micelles, and/or

polymer microparticles, and/or

polymer nanoparticles, and/or

polymer lipid hybrid systems, and/or

derivatized single chain polymers, and

wherein the composition comprises one or more additional therapeutic agents.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein said delivery vehicles are 4 to 6,000 nm in diameter.

3. The composition of claim 1 wherein said delivery vehicles have a mean diameter of between 4.5 and 500 nm.

4. The composition of claim 1 wherein said vehicles have a mean diameter of less than 250 nm.

5. The composition of claim 1 wherein said delivery vehicles are from 4 μm to 50 μm in diameter.

6. The composition of claim 1 wherein said delivery vehicles comprise liposomes.

7. The composition of claim 1 wherein said first and second antineoplastic agents are co-encapsulated.

8. The composition of claim 1 wherein at least one of the antineoplastic agents is selected from the group consisting of a DNA damaging agent, a DNA repair inhibitor, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, a topoisomerase II inhibitor, a cell checkpoint inhibitor, a CDK inhibitor, a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, a cytotoxic agent, an apoptosis inducing agent, an antimetabolite, a cell cycle control inhibitor, a therapeutic lipid, a telomerase inhibitor, an anti-angiogenic agent, a mitochondrial poison, a signal transduction inhibitor and an immunoagent.

9. The composition of claim 7 wherein the first antineoplastic agent is a cytoxic agent and the second antineoplastic agent is a cell-cycle inhibitor, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is a DNA damaging agent and the second antineoplastic agent is a DNA repair inhibitor, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is a topoisomerase I inhibitor and the second antineoplastic agent is a S/G 2 - or a G 2 /M-checkpoint inhibitor, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is a G 1 /S checkpoint inhibitor or a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor and the second antineoplastic agent is a G 2 /M checkpoint inhibitor, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is a receptor kinase inhibitor and the second antineoplastic agent is a cytotoxic agent, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is an apoptosis-inducing agent and the second antineoplastic agent is a cytotoxic agent, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is an apoptosis-inducing agent and the second antineoplastic agent is a cell-cycle control agent, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is a telomerase inhibitor and the second antineoplastic agent is a cell-cycle control inhibitor, or

wherein the first and second antineoplastic agents are antimetabolites, or

wherein the first and second antineoplastic agents are cytotoxic agents, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is a therapeutic lipid and the second antineoplastic agent is a cytotoxic agent, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is a topoisomerase I inhibitor and the second antineoplastic agent is a DNA repair inhibitor, or

wherein the apoptosis-inducing antineoplastic agent is a serine-containing lipid.

10. The composition of claim 1 wherein the first antineoplastic agent is irinotecan and the second antineoplastic agent is 5 FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin) and the second antineoplastic agent is 5 FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is idarubicin and the second antineoplastic agent is AraC or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is oxaliplatin and the second antineoplastic agent is 5 FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is irinotecan and the second antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is gemcitabine and the second antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is methotrexate and the second antineoplastic agent is 5 FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is paclitaxel and the second antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is etoposide and the second antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is docetaxel or paclitaxel and the second antineoplastic agent is doxorubicin, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is doxorubicin and the second antineoplastic agent is vinorelbine, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is carboplatin and the second antineoplastic agent is vinorelbine, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is 5-FU or FUDR and the second antineoplastic agent is gemcitabine.

11. The composition of claim 6 wherein the first antineoplastic agent is daunorubicin and the second antineoplastic agent is AraC.

12. The composition of claim 1 wherein the one or more additional therapeutic agents is a cytotoxic agent.

13. The composition of claim 1 where the one or more additional therapeutic agents is selected from an apoptosis-inducing agent, a signal transduction inhibitor or a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

14. A method to prepare a composition of claim 1 , which method comprises stably associating with said particulate delivery vehicles a mole ratio of agents that has been determined to exhibit a non-antagonistic cytotoxic or cytostatic effect in an in vitro assay over at least 20% of the concentration range over which the fraction of cells affected is 0.2-0.8;

wherein said stable association is such that said ratio is maintained in the blood for at least one hour after administration,

wherein said method further comprises adding said one or more additional therapeutic agents.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said ratio has been determined in an assay that employs testing at least one ratio of said agents at a multiplicity of concentrations and applying an algorithm to calculate a synergistic, additive, or antagonistic effect for said ratio over a range of concentrations.

16. The method of claim 15 which employs testing a multiplicity of ratios, and wherein said algorithm is the Chou-Talalay median effect method.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the delivery vehicles are liposomes.

18. The method of claim 17

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is irinotecan and the second antineoplastic agent is 5-FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin) and the second antineoplastic agent is 5-FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is idarubicin and the second antineoplastic agent is AraC or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is oxaliplatin and the second antineoplastic agent is 5-FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is irinotecan and the second antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is gemcitabine and the second antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is methotrexate and the second antineoplastic agent is 5-FU or FUDR, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is paclitaxel and the second antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is etoposide and the second antineoplastic agent is cisplatin (or carboplatin), or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is docetaxel or paclitaxel and the second antineoplastic agent is doxorubicin, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is doxorubicin and the second antineoplastic agent is vinorelbine, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is carboplatin and the second antineoplastic agent is vinorelbine, or

wherein the first antineoplastic agent is 5-FU or FUDR and the second antineoplastic agent is gemcitabine.

19. The method of claim 14 wherein the first antineoplastic agent is daunorubicin and the second antineoplastic agent is AraC.

20. A method to treat a disease or condition in a subject, which method comprises administering to a subject in need of such treatment the pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 .