Drug delivery system for controlled ocular therapy

Claim 1

An ocular therapeutic system for dispensing medications to an eye, said system sized, shaped and adapted for easy insertion and comfortable retention in the eye and comprising depots of 1 to 40 weight percent of a therapeutically acceptable beta-adrenergic solute that lowers intraocular pressure by decreasing aqueous humor formation, and 1 to 40 weight percent of a therapeutically acceptable parasympathomimetic solute that lowers intraocular pressure by increasing the outflow of aqueous humor, said depots dispersed in and surrounded substantially individually by a polymer that is essentially impermeable to the passage of the solutes and is permeable to the passage of an exterior fluid.

Claim 13

A method for treating glaucoma in a warm-blooded animal, which consists essentially in lowering the intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma by administering to the eye of the animal a drug formulation, the method consisting essentially in the steps of: (a) positioning in the eye an ocular insert, said insert consisting essentially of: (1) depots of a drug formulation consisting of a beta-adrenergic blocking osmotic solute that can lower intraocular pressure, and a parasympathomimetic osmotic solute that can lower intraocular pressure, which solutes exhibit osmotic pressure gradients across the wall of the depots against an external fluid, said depots dispersed in; (2) a film sized and shaped as an insert for easy positioning and retention in the eye of the animal, said film a polymeric material that surrounds individually and forms the wall of the discrete depots, is non-toxic nonerodible, impermeable to the passage of solutes and permeable to the passage of fluid; (b) imbibing fluid from the eye into the depots to dissolve the solutes and fill the depots with solution, thereby exerting pressure against the wall of the depots and forming apertures that release drug formulation from the depots at the surface and from the interior of the insert through formulation dispensing paths made by the inward progressive aperture formation in related depots; thereby, (c) administering the beta-adrenergic drug and the parasympathomimetic drug to the eye at a controlled rate for treating glaucoma over a prolonged period of time.

Claim 14

A method for treating glaucoma in a warm-blooded animal, which consists essentially in lowering the intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma by administering to the eye of the animal a drug formulation, the method consisting essentially in the steps of: (a) positioning in the eye an ocular insert, said insert consisting essentially of: (1) depots of a drug formulation consisting of a beta-adrenergic blocking osmotic solute that can lower intraocular pressure, and a parasympathomimetic osmotic solute that can lower intraocular pressure, which solutes exhibit osmotic pressure gradients across the wall of the depots against an external fluid, said depots dispersed in; (2) a film sized and shaped as an insert for easy positioning and retention in the eye of the animal, said film a polymeric material that surrounds individually and forms the wall of the discrete depots, is non-toxic nonerodible, impermeable to the passage of solutes and permeable to the passage of fluid; (b) imbibing fluid from the eye into the depots to dissolve the solutes and fill the depots with solution, thereby exerting pressure against the wall of the depots and forming apertures that release drug formulation from the depots at the surface and from the interior of the insert through formulation dispensing paths made by the inward progressive aperture formation in related depots; thereby, (c) administering the beta-adrenergic drug and the parasympathomimetic drug to the eye at a controlled rate for treating glaucoma over a prolonged period of time.