Oral transmucosal drug delivery system

1. An oral transmucosal dosage form comprising

(a) a primary vehicle comprising

(i) a crystallization inhibition agent (CIA), selected from the group consisting of

I. a hydrophilic CIA selected from the group consisting of one or more polyethylene glycols (PEG) having a molecular weight ≧2000 which is solid at room temperature, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), vinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate co-polymers, polyvinyl caprolactum-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol graft co-polymers, synthetic copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, hydroxyl propyl cellulose, hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose, polyethylene oxide, disaccharides, trioses, tetroses, sugar, trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, maltodextrin, polyols, or mixtures thereof;

II. a lipophilic CIA selected from the group consisting of oleic acid, a hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa butter, carnauba wax; beeswax; or mixtures thereof;

III. an amphiphilic CIA selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol glycerides, vitamin E-TPGS (d-alpha tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate), mono-, di-, and tri-esters of sucrose with fatty acids, lecithin or mixtures thereof;

IV. or any combination of I-III; and

(ii) an estrogen

wherein the estrogen is combined with the CIA to form the primary vehicle, and

wherein the CIA reduces the crystallinity of the estrogen by at least 50% as measured by DSC relative to essentially pure estrogen not combined with the CIA; and

(b) a secondary vehicle comprising

(i) a hydrophilic water soluble component, and

(ii) a texturizing agent,

wherein said oral transmucosal dosage form weighs about 250 mg to about 5000 mg, said oral transmucosal dosage form erodes in about 5 to about 60 minutes, but does not disintegrate, and said oral transmucosal dosage form is solid at 37° C.

2. An oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , wherein said oral transmucosal dosage form comprises the drug having at least a 95% reduction in crystalinity.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the estrogen is selected from the group consisting of conjugated estrogents, 17 β-estradiol, estradiol acetate, and estradiol hemihydrates.

4. The dosage form of claim 1 , wherein the primary vehicle comprises at least 2 CIAs.

5. The dosage form of claim 1 , wherein the primary vehicle comprises at least 2 CIAs, wherein the CIAs are selected from the group consisting of:

a hydrophilic crystallization inhibition agent;

a lipophilic crystallization inhibition agent; and

an amphiphilic crystallization inhibition agent.

6. The oral dosage form of claim 1 , wherein the primary vehicle comprises a binary crystallization inhibition agent system, wherein the binary crystallization inhibition agent system is monophasic.

7. The oral dosage form of claim 1 , wherein the primary vehicle comprises a ternary crystallization inhibition agent system, wherein the ternary crystallization inhibition agent system is monophasic.

8. The oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , wherein said primary vehicle is monophasic.

9. The oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , wherein said dosage form erodes at a rate of about 5 mg/min to about 500 mg/min.

10. The oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , wherein at least 40% of the estrogen is released from said dosage form within 5 minutes, as measured using the glass bead rotating bottle method with 150 ml SSF.

11. The oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , further comprising a progestin.

12. The oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 11 , wherein the progestin is selected from the group consisting of progesterone, and norgestimate, and levonorgestrel.

13. The oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , wherein said estrogen is in free base form.

14. The transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , wherein the dosage form is packaged in a moisture and/or oxygen barrier polymer film blister package.

15. The oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , wherein the CIA is molten when combined with the estrogen.

16. The oral transmucosal dosage form of claim 1 , wherein the CIA and the estrogen is solubilized in a solvent or mixture of solvents.

17. An oral transmucosal dosage form comprising

(a) a primary vehicle comprising

(i) a crystallization inhibition agent (CIA), selected from the group consisting of

I. a hydrophilic CIA selected from the group consisting of one or more polyethylene glycols (PEG) having a molecular weight ≧2000 which is solid at room temperature, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), vinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate co-polymers, polyvinyl caprolactum-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol graft co-polymers, synthetic copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, hydroxyl propyl cellulose, hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose, polyethylene oxide, disaccharides, trioses, tetroses, sugar, trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, maltodextrin, polyols, or mixtures thereof;

II. a lipophilic CIA selected from the group consisting of oleic acid, a hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa butter, carnauba wax; beeswax; or mixtures thereof;

III. an amphiphilic CIA selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol glycerides, vitamin E-TPGS (d-alpha tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate), mono-, di-, and tri-esters of sucrose with fatty acids, lecithin or mixtures thereof;

IV. or any combination of I-III; and

(ii) an estrogen

wherein the estrogen is combined with the CIA to form the primary vehicle, and

wherein the CIA reduces the crystallinity of the estrogen by at least 50% as measured by DSC relative to essentially pure estrogen not combined with the CIA; and

(b) a secondary vehicle comprising

(i) a hydrophilic water soluble component, and

(ii) a texturizing agent,

wherein the CIA reduces the crystallinity of the estrogen by at least a 50% reduction in crystallinity as measured by & DSC thermogram relative to a dosage form not comprising a CIA but otherwise substantially identical in composition.

18. A method of making an oral transmucosal dosage form comprising the steps of

i) providing a crystallization inhibition agent selected from the group consisting of

I. a hydrophilic CIA selected from the group consisting of one or more polyethylene glycols (PEG) having a molecular weight ≧2000 which is solid at room temperature, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), vinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate co-polymers, polyvinyl caprolactum-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol graft co-polymers, synthetic copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, hydroxyl propyl cellulose, hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose, polyethylene oxide, disaccharides, trioses, tetroses, sugar, trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, maltodextrin, polyols, or mixtures thereof;

II. a lipophilic CIA selected from the group consisting of oleic acid, a hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa butter, carnauba wax, beeswax, or mixtures thereof;

III. an amphiphilic CIA selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol glycerides, vitamin E-TPGS (d-alpha tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate), mono-, di-, and tri-esters of sucrose with fatty acids, lecithin or mixtures thereof;

IV. or any combination of I-III;

ii) applying heat to melt said crystallization inhibition agent, and mixing to create a molten mixture;

iii) adding an estrogen to said molten mixture, and mixing estrogen and said molten mixture;

iv) cooling said molten mixture and milling said molten mixture to form a powder primary vehicle;

v) adding a secondary vehicle to said powder primary vehicle and mixing; and

vi) compressing said secondary vehicle and powder primary vehicle into an oral transmucosal dosage form,

wherein said transmucosal dosage form is about 250 mg to about 5000 mg, erodes in about 5 to about 60 minutes, but does not disintegrate, and is solid at 37° C., wherein the secondary vehicle comprises

(i) a hydrophilic water soluble component; and

(ii) a texturizing agent; and

wherein the CIA reduces the crystallinity of the estrogen by at least 50% as measured by DSC relative to essentially pure estrogen not combined with the CIA.

19. A method of making an oral transmucosal dosage form comprising:

i) mixing an estrogen with one or more crystallization inhibition agent(s); selected from the group consisting of

I. a hydrophilic CIA selected from the group consisting of one or more polyethylene glycols (PEG) having a molecular weight ≧2000 which is solid at room temperature, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), vinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate co-polymers, polyvinyl caprolactum-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol graft co-polymers, synthetic copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, hydroxyl propyl cellulose, hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose, polyethylene oxide, disaccharides, trioses, tetroses, sugar, trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, maltodextrin, polyols, or mixtures thereof;

II. a lipophilic CIA selected from the group consisting of oleic acid, a hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa butter, carnauba wax, beeswax, or mixtures thereof;

III. an amphiphilic CIA selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol glycerides, vitamin E-TPGS (d-alpha tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate), mono-, di-, and tri-esters of sucrose with fatty acids, lecithin or mixtures thereof;

IV. or any combination of I-III;

(ii) solubilizing the mixture of (i) in a solvent or a mixture of solvents;

(iii) mixing the solution of (ii) with secondary vehicle;

(iv) evaporating the solvent(s), forming a combination of estrogen and crystallization inhibition agent(s) mixed uniformly with secondary vehicle, which will act as the primary blend;

(v) milling the primary blend to form a powder;

(vi) mixing the powder from the previous step with additional secondary vehicle; and

(vii) compressing said blend from step (vi) into an oral transmucosal dosage form;

wherein said transmucosal dosage from is about 250 mg to about 5000 mg, erodes in about 5 to 60 minutes, but does not disintegrate and is solid at 37° C.

wherein the secondary vehicle comprises

(i) a hydrophilic water soluble component, and

(ii) a texturizing agent, and

wherein the CIA reduces the crystallinity of the estrogen by at least 50% as measured by DSC relative to essentially pure estrogen not combined with the CIA.