SUSTAINED-RELEASE DRUG DELIVERY EMPLOYING A POWDERED HYDROCOLLOID GUM OBTAINABLE FROM HIGHER PLANTS

摘要

An oral-delivery pharmaceutical composition for achieving sustained release of a drug in a mammal. The composition includes (a) a suitable amount of a pharmaceutically-acceptable hydrocolloid gum obtainable from higher plants (e.g., about 20 % - 90 % by weight), (b) another excipient (e.g., about 5 % - 30 % by weight) that aids in sustained release and (c) a therapeutically-effective amount of a drug. Preferably the mean particle size of the gum is about 150 mu or less. Also disclosed is a process for preparing the composition and a method for achieving sustained release of a drug by administering the composition to a subject in need thereof.