Means for administering amphipathic medicament

Claim 1

An osmotic therapeutic system for the controlled dispensing of drug to a biological environment of use, said system comprising: (a) a shaped wall formed of a non-toxic semipermeable material that maintains its integrity during the drug dispensing period and which material is permeable to the passage of an external fluid in the environment and substantially impermeable to the passage of drug, the wall surrounding and forming; (b) a compartment; (c) a micelle comprising an amphipathic drug pharmaceutically acceptable surfactant adduct which adduct is coated onto an osmotically effective solute that exhibits an osmotic pressure gradient across the wall against the fluid housed in the compartment; (d) a passageway in the wall communicating with the compartment and the exterior of the system, and; (e) wherein in operation when the system is in the environment, fluid from the environment is imbibed through the wall into the compartment in a tendency towards osmotic equilibrium at a rate determined by the permeability of the wall and the osmotic pressure gradient across the wall, thereby continuously forming a solution of adduct, which solution containing the drug is dispensed through the passageway at a controlled rate over a prolonged period of time.