Microfabricated silicon nanopore membranes provide continuous delivery of biopharmaceuticals

Continuous delivery of bio-pharmaceuticals can provide important patient benefits including improved safety, better compliance, and improved efficacy. Drugs released from devices implanted under the skin, including mechanical pumps, are able to reach a steady state level in plasma .In practice, however, mechanical pumps face two key limitations: small volume/drug carrying capacity and formulation instability. In general, for proper pumping action, the drug must be in solution within the device reservoir, either in an aqueous medium or in a biocompatible, water-miscible solvent such as ethanol or DMSO.The mechanism of delivery relies on the unexpected finding that diffusion from a reservoir containing a high concentration of a solute to a reservoir of lower concentration through microfabricated nanochannels.The small implantable device applicable to the delivery of a wide range of drugs, including biopharmaceuticals. Zero-order release of several molecules has been documented in vitro.The drug loaded into the NanoGATE reservoir need not be in solution with the diffusion release mechanism, it is possible to fill the reservoir with a suspension of the drug, significantly increasing the carrying capacity of the system. Moreover, this approach provides formulation options to improve the long term stability of the loaded drug not possible with existing mechanical systems.