Radiation sterilization of hypercompresed polymer dosage forms

1. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form which comprises an ester capped lactide polymer, an ester capped glycolide polymer or an ester capped lactide-glycolide copolymer that is hypercompressed with an active pharmaceutical ingredient selected from the group consisting of dexamethasone, prednisone, methyl prednisolone, latanoprost, unoprostone, bimatoprost, travoprost, timolol, carteolol, betaxolol, nadolol, levobuolol, dorzolamide and acetozolamide wherein said sterile pharmaceutical dosage form has been sterilized with an electron beam.

2. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 1 where the polymer is selected from the group consisting of ester capped poly(dl-lactide), ester capped polyglycolide, ester capped poly(glycolide-co-lactide), and ester capped poly(glycolide-co-dl-lactide) or a mixture of any of the foregoing.

3. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 2 where the dosage form has been compressed by the application of 50K psi to 350K psi.

4. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 3 where the dosage form has been compressed by the application of 100 Kpsi to 300 Kpsi.

5. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is dexamethasone.

6. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is prednisone.

7. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is methyl prednisolone.

8. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is latanoprost.

9. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is timolol.

10. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is dorzolamide.

11. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is acetozolamide.

12. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is bimatoprost.

13. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 4 where the active pharmaceutical ingredient is betaxolol.

14. A sterile pharmaceutical dosage form as defined in claim 3 where the dosage form has been compressed by the application of 200 Kpsi to 300 Kpsi.

15. A method of preparing a sterile hypercompressed pharmaceutical dosage form of an ester capped lactide polymer, an ester capped glycolide polymer or an ester capped lactide-glycolide copolymer which comprises:

(a) combining an active pharmaceutical ingredient selected from the group consisting of dexamethasone, prednisone, methyl prednisolone, latanoprost, unoprostone, bimatoprost, travoprost, timolol, carteolol, betaxolol, nadolol, levobuolol, dorzolamide and acetozolamide with an ester capped lactide polymer, an ester capped glycolide polymer or an ester capped lactide-glycolide copolymer to form a powdered product;

(b) hypercompressing the powdered product of step (a) to form a hypercompressed dosage form; and

(c) exposing the hypercompressed dosage form of step (b) to a sterilizing amount of an E-beam radiation source to form a sterilized product.

16. A method of preparing a sterile hypercompressed pharmaceutical dosage form according to claim 15 where the dosage form has been compressed by the application of 50K psi to 350K psi.

17. A method of preparing a sterile hypercompressed pharmaceutical dosage form according to claim 15 where the dosage form has been compressed by the application of 100 Kpsi to 300 Kpsi.

18. A method of preparing a sterile hypercompressed pharmaceutical dosage form according to claim 15 where the dosage form has been compressed by the application of 200 Kpsi to 300 Kpsi.