Pharmaceutical package for ophthalmic formulations

1. An ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package comprising:

a syringe barrel having a front dispensing opening and a back opening, the syringe barrel comprising a thermoplastic wall having an interior surface enclosing at least a portion of a lumen, an exterior surface, and a coating set on at least one of the interior surface and the exterior surface of the wall, the coating set comprising:

a tie coating or layer on the interior surface or the exterior surface comprising SiO x C y H z in which x is from about 0.5 to about 2.4 as measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), y is from about 0.6 to about 3 as measured by XPS, and z is from about 2 to about 9 as measured by at least one of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) or hydrogen forward scattering (HFS), the tie coating or layer having a facing surface facing toward the wall, the tie coating or layer also having an opposed surface facing away from the wall;

a barrier coating or layer of SiO x , in which x is from about 1.5 to about 2.9 as measured by XPS, the barrier coating or layer having a facing surface facing toward the opposed surface of the tie coating or layer and an opposed surface facing away from the tie coating or layer;

a pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z , in which x is from about 0.5 to about 2.4 as measured by XPS, y is from about 0.6 to about 3 as measured by XPS, and z is from about 2 to about 9 as measured by at least one of RBS or HFS, the pH protective coating or layer having a facing surface facing toward the opposed surface of the barrier layer and an opposed surface facing away from the barrier layer;

in the lumen, a liquid formulation of an ophthalmic drug suitable for intravitreal injection; and

a closure seated in the lumen having a front face facing the liquid formulation, the closure being an axially stretchable plunger in the syringe barrel and axially slidable toward the front dispensing opening, the plunger comprising: an elastomeric sleeve having a sidewall and a front face facing the front dispensing opening, the sidewall comprising a stretch zone that is adapted to undergo axial elongation to convert the plunger from a storage mode to a dispensing mode, wherein the elongation reduces an outer profile of at least a portion of the sidewall, thus reducing the plunger to a constricted state;

wherein the plunger further comprises a liquid sealing section when the plunger is in the constricted state, and wherein the liquid sealing section comprises a non-stretch zone of the sidewall of the elastomeric sleeve; and

wherein the syringe barrel and closure are free of silicone oil and baked-on silicone.

2. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , further comprising a lubricity coating or layer positioned between the pH protective coating or layer and the lumen.

3. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 2 , wherein the lubricity coating or layer has the atomic proportions SiO x C y H z , in which x is from about 0.5 to about 2.4 as measured by XPS, y is from about 0.6 to about 3 as measured by XPS, and z is from about 2 to about 9 as measured by at least one of RBS or HFS.

4. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 2 , wherein the lubricity coating or layer is prepared by PECVD from an organosilicon precursor.

5. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 4 , wherein the lubricity coating or layer is prepared by PECVD from octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS) as the organosilicon precursor.

6. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the front face of the closure seated in the lumen is covered with a fluoropolymer coating or layer, wherein the front face is facing the liquid formulation.

7. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , having a nominal maximum fill volume of 0.2 mL to 10 mL.

8. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the front face of the plunger has a fluoropolymer surface.

9. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , wherein the ophthalmic drug suitable for intravitreal injection comprises a VEGF antagonist.

10. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 9 , wherein the VEGF antagonist comprises an anti-VEGF antibody or an antigen-binding fragment of such antibody.

11. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the liquid formulation of an ophthalmic drug suitable for intravitreal injection is 1 to 100 mg of a drug active agent per mL of the liquid formulation (mg/mL).

12. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the liquid formulation of an ophthalmic drug suitable for intravitreal injection comprises 6 mg/mL or 10 mg/mL of the ophthalmic drug.

13. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the ophthalmic drug suitable for intravitreal injection further comprises:

a buffer in an amount effective to provide a pH of the liquid formulation in the range from about 5 to about 7;

a non-ionic surfactant in the range of 0.005 to 0.02% (mg/mL) of complete formulation; and

water for injection.

14. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the ophthalmic drug suitable for intravitreal injection comprises 6 mg/mL or 10 mg/mL of the drug active agent; 100 mg/mL of α, α-trehalose dihydrate, 1.98 mg/mL L-histidine; and 0.1 mg/mL Polysorbate 20 in water for injection.

15. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , wherein the pre-filled pharmaceutical package has a shelf life of at least six months at a storage temperature of 4° C.

16. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the ophthalmic drug suitable for intravitreal injection meets the particle count standard for particulate matter in ophthalmic solutions of USP789 as in force on Nov. 1, 2015, or Ph. Eur 5.7.1 as in force on Nov. 1, 2015, or both, after three months of storage of the pre-filled syringe at 25° C. and 60% relative humidity, after three months of storage of the pre-filled syringe at 40° C. and 75% relative humidity, or both.

17. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the thermoplastic wall comprises a polyolefin; a polyester; a polycarbonate; or any combination or copolymer of any two or more of these.

18. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which:

the tie coating or layer comprising SiO x C y H z is between 5 and 200 nm (nanometers) thick as determined by transmission electron microscopy;

the barrier coating or layer of SiO x is from 2 to 1000 nm thick as determined by transmission electron microscopy; and

the pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z is between 10 and 1000 nm thick as determined by transmission electron microscopy.

19. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which, for the pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z , x is from about 1 to about 2 as measured by XPS, y is from about 0.6 to about 1.5 as measured by XPS, and z is from about 2 to about 5 as measured by RBS or HFS.

20. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which for the pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z , x is about 1.1 as measured by XPS, y is about 1 as measured by XPS, and z is from about 2 to about 5 as measured by RBS or HFS.

21. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z has a density between 1.25 and 1.65 g/cm 3 as determined by X-ray reflectivity (XRR).

22. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z has a root mean square surface roughness value as measured by atomic force microscopy of from about 5 to about 9.

23. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z has a contact angle with distilled water of from 90° to 110° as measured by Goniometer Angle measurement of a water droplet on the pH protective surface, per ASTM D7334-08 “Standard Practice for Surface Wettability of Coatings, Substrates and Pigments by Advancing Contact Angle Measurement.

24. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z has an FTIR absorbance spectrum having a ratio from greater than 0.75 to 1.7 between the maximum amplitude of the Si—O—Si symmetrical stretch peak normally located between about 1000 and 1040 cm −1 , and the maximum amplitude of the Si—O—Si asymmetric stretch peak normally located between about 1060 and about 1100 cm −1 .

25. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , in which the pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z has a silicon dissolution rate by a 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer diluted in water for injection, adjusted to pH 8 with concentrated nitric acid, and containing 0.2 wt. % polysorbate-80 surfactant (measured in the absence of the liquid formulation of a VEGF antagonist, at 40° C.), less than 170 ppb/day.

26. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , further comprising a tamper-evident needle shield.

27. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , further comprising a luer lock on the syringe barrel.

28. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 27 , comprising a dispensing opening through the luer lock, the dispensing opening having a diameter of from 0.05 mm to less than 1.8 mm.

29. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , further comprising an insert-molded staked needle and a needle shield.

30. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , wherein the pre-filled pharmaceutical package is suitable for terminal sterilization by a sterilizing gas.

31. The ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package according to claim 1 , wherein the non-stretch zone is provided by an insert having increased rigidity relative to the elastomeric sleeve.

32. An ophthalmic drug in a pre-filled pharmaceutical package comprising:

a syringe barrel having a front dispensing opening and a back opening, the syringe barrel comprising a thermoplastic wall having an interior surface enclosing at least a portion of a lumen, an exterior surface, and a coating set on the interior surface of the wall, the coating set comprising:

a pH protective coating or layer of SiO x C y H z , in which x is from about 0.5 to about 2.4 as measured by XPS, y is from about 0.6 to about 3 as measured by XPS, and z is from about 2 to about 9 as measured by at least one of RBS or HFS;

in the lumen, a liquid formulation of a VEGF antagonist comprising an anti-VEGF antibody or an antigen-binding fragment of such antibody, such liquid formulation being suitable for intravitreal injection; and

a closure seated in the lumen having a front face facing the liquid formulation, the closure being an axially stretchable plunger in the syringe barrel and axially slidable toward the front dispensing opening, the plunger comprising: an elastomeric sleeve having a sidewall and a front face facing the front dispensing opening, the sidewall comprising a stretch zone that is adapted to undergo axial elongation to convert the plunger from a storage mode to a dispensing mode, wherein the elongation reduces an outer profile of at least a portion of the sidewall, thus reducing the plunger to a constricted state;

wherein the plunger further comprises a liquid sealing section when the plunger is in the constricted state, and wherein the liquid sealing section comprises a non-stretch zone of the sidewall of the elastomeric sleeve; and

wherein the syringe barrel and closure are free of silicone oil and baked-on silicone.