Drug delivery systems comprising solid solutions of weakly basic drugs

1. A method of preparing a pharmaceutical composition comprising timed pulsatile release (TPR) beads, wherein said TPR beads comprise:

a solid dispersion of at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient in at least one solubility enhancing polymer, wherein the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient comprises a weakly basic active pharmaceutical ingredient having:

a solubility of not more than 100 μg/mL at pH 6.8; and

a TPR coating comprising a water insoluble polymer and an enteric polymer;

wherein the composition provides a therapeutically effective plasma concentration of the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient over a period of at least 12 hours and the TPR beads provide a lag time of up to about 4 hours for the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient,

the method comprising:

dissolving the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient and the at least one solubility-enhancing polymer in a pharmaceutically acceptable solvent;

removing the pharmaceutically acceptable solvent from the solution of the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient and the at least one solubility-enhancing polymer, whereby particles of a solid dispersion comprising molecularly dispersed at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient and at least one solubility-enhancing polymer are formed;

dissolving the water insoluble polymer and the enteric polymer in a pharmaceutically acceptable coating solvent, thereby forming a TPR coating solution;

coating the particles of solid dispersion with the TPR coating solution;

removing the coating solvent, thereby forming TPR beads comprising a TPR coating formed on the particles of solid dispersion.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solution of the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient and the at least one solubility-enhancing polymer is coated onto inert cores prior to forming the solid dispersion particles by removing the pharmaceutically acceptable solvent, whereby immediate release (IR) beads are formed;

coating the IR beads with the TPR coating solution, whereby TPR beads are formed.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

granulating at least one disintegrant with at least one sugar alcohol and/or at least one saccharide, thereby forming rapidly dispersing microgranules;

mixing the TPR beads with the rapidly dispersing microgranules; and

compressing the mixture, whereby an orally disintegrating tablet is formed.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of water-insoluble polymer to enteric polymer in the TPR coating ranges from about 9:1 to about 1:9.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the TPR coating further comprises about 3% to about 30% by weight of a plasticizer compared to the total weight of the TPR coating.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solid dispersion of the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient and the at least one solubility-enhancing polymer is deposited on an inert core.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one solubility-enhancing polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyvinylpyrrolidone, vinyl acetate/vinyl pyrrolidone copolymers, methylcellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, polyethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, and cyclodextrins.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the solid dispersion further comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable organic acid.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the ratio of organic acid to at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient ranges from about 4:1 to about 1:9 by weight.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the water-insoluble polymer is selected from the group consisting of polymers or copolymers of methacrylic acid esters having quaternary ammonium groups, polyvinyl acetate polymers or copolymers, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, ethyl cellulose, and mixtures thereof; and the enteric polymer is selected from the group consisting of cellulose acetate phthalate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose phthalate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate), polyvinyl acetate phthalate, pH-sensitive methacrylic acid-methyl methacrylate copolymers and shellac.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the TPR beads comprise IR beads coated with the TPR coating; and

the IR beads comprise inert cores coated with the solid dispersion.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the ratio of the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient to the at least one solubility-enhancing polymer ranges from about 6:1 to about 1:9.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the TPR beads further comprise an enteric coating applied over the solid dispersion;

the enteric coating is up to about 40% of the total weight of the TPR beads; and

the TPR beads provide a lag time of about 1-4 hours.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the composition comprises a combination of IR beads and TPR beads, wherein the ratio of IR beads to TPR beads is about 1:9 to about 5:5.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the IR beads further comprise a taste-masking layer coated over the solid dispersion; and

wherein the taste-masking layer comprises a water-insoluble polymer or a water-insoluble polymer in combination with a water-soluble or gastrosoluble pore former.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredients are selected from the group consisting of analgesics, anticonvulsants, anti-diabetic agents, anti-infective agents, anti-neoplastic agents, anti-Parkinsonian agents, antirheumatic agents, cardiovascular agents, central nervous system (CNS) stimulants, dopamine receptor agonists, anti-emetics, gastrointestinal agents, psychotherapeutic agents, opioid agonists, opioid antagonists, anti-epileptic drugs, histamine H2 antagonists, anti-asthmatic agents, and skeletal muscle relaxants.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient is lercanidipine, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts, solvates, and/or esters thereof.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

the IR beads further comprise a seal coating comprising hypromellose applied over the solid dispersion;

the at least one solubility-enhancing polymer comprises a vinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate copolymer or polyvinyl pyrrolidone;

the TPR coating comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable methacrylate ester/methylmethacrylate ester copolymer and a pH-sensitive methacrylic acid-methylmethacrylate copolymer at a ratio of 9:1 to 1:9;

the weight of the TPR coating is up to about 50% of the weight of the TPR beads; and

the at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient is selected from the group consisting of nifedipine, nicorandil, lercanidipine, iloperidone, clonazepam, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts, solvates and/or esters thereof.