Double-Walled Microspheres for Drug Delivery

Present microsphere delivery system technology consisting of a single drug dispersed within a polymer matrix has several drawbacks. One is the problem of the so-called “burst effect”. By exploiting the phenomenon of phase separation between two immiscible polymers dissolved in a mutual solvent, a double-walled microsphere could be manufactured with the second polymer coating the polymer/drug matrix. This one-step process would give a consistent coating of even very small microspheres not achievable via normal, two-step coating processes and would help to smooth out the release curve by lessening the “burst effect”. Along with solving the problem of the “burst effect”, this concept of double-walled microspheres could be used to achieve constant release of the drug over long periods of time. So far, this has only been achieved with a limited number of geometric configurations. Since every polymer has its own characteristic release rate, the release could be kept much more constant by changing the polymer type and/or properties. By combining these layers so that the release rate of one layer would complement the slowing of release due to decreased surface area or increased diffusion distances.