| abstract |
The invention relates to an oil-in-water emulsion and related method for administration of a drug to a mucosal surface. The emulsion has an aqueous continuous phase and a plurality of submicron particles having an average particle diameter of from 10 nm to 600 nm, with the particles having a hydrophobic core of a fat or oil which is surrounded by a surfactant layer. The emulsion further includes a drug and a mucoadhesive polymer which is a polymer or copolymer of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, a poly(methyl vinyl ether/maleic anhydride) copolymer, pectin, alginic acid, hyaluronic acid, chitosan, gum tragacanth, karaya gum or carboxymethylcellulose. The hydrophobic core has less than 1% (w/w) protein, relative to the weight of the hydrophobic core, and the emulsion contains less than 5% (w/w) surfactant, relative to the weight of the hydrophobic core. |