this is an invention of an improved pharmaceutical dosage form for oral administration to human being or animal host which is comprised of : ( a ) a core granulation formed by dry mixing an acid - unstable drug or its salt and an alkaline substance or pharmaceutical excipient without using an aqueous granulating solution ; ( b ) said dry core granulation can then be quantitatively filled into a proper size empty hard gelatin capsule shell using this shell as a barrier and hence eliminating the process of applying a protective coating layer onto the granulation . in other words , this hard gelatin capsule shell constitutes simultaneously a barrier between said core granulation and the outer enteric coating of said capsule during the processing to complete the capsule dosage form ; and ( c ) an enteric coating can then be applied onto said capsule to prevent the capsule from releasing the acid - unstable drug in a low ph environment ( i . e . stomach ) and then to deliver the drug in a higher ph environment ( i . e . small intestine ). as used herein , core granulation is a mixture of a pharmaceutically acceptable granulated alkaline substance and , or excipient , and a drug active ingredient that can be processed into uniform spherelike or regularly shaped aggregates for the improvement of flowability and compressibility . the manufacturing processes may employ one , or a combination of , four established methods : these methods are described in “ the theory and practice of industrial pharmacy , 1986 , lea & amp ; febiger , philadelphia , pa ., usa , edited by lachman , l ., lieberman , h . a ., and kanig , j . l . this invention also includes an improved pharmaceutical dosage form for oral administration to human being or animal host which consists of : ( a ) a core granulation formed by dry mixing an acid - unstable drug or its salt , and an alkaline substance or pharmaceutical excipient , without using an aqueous granulating solution , and which can be directly compressed into a tablet ; ( b ) said tablet can then be filled into an empty , hard gelatin capsule shell using this shell as a barrier and hence eliminating the process of applying a protective layer onto the tablet . in other words , this hard gelatin capsule shell constitutes simultaneously a barrier between the said tablet and an outer enteric coating of said capsule during the processing to complete the capsule dosage form ; and ( c ) an enteric coating can then be applied onto said capsule to prevent the capsule from releasing the acid - unstable drug in the low ph environment ( i . e . stomach ) and then to deliver the drug in a higher ph environment ( i . e . small intestine ). also included in this invention is an improved pharmaceutical dosage form for oral administration to human being or animal host which consists of : ( a ) a core granulation formed by dry mixing an acid - unstable drug or its salt , and an alkaline substance or pharmaceutical excipient , without using an aqueous granulating solution , which can then be directly compressed into a tablet ; ( b ) said tablet can then be coated with a non - ionic protective coating in an orgainc solvent as a barrier : ( 1 ) to separate the acid - unstable active drug in the tablet from the outer enteric coating and , ( 2 ) to protect the outer enteric coating from the permeation of generated alkaline solution formed by any existed water in the core tablet ; and ( c ) an enteric coating then can be applied onto said tablet to protect it from releasing the acid - unstable drug in a low ph environment ( i . e . the stomach ) and to deliver the active in a higher ph environment ( i . e . the small intestine ). the protective coating can be applied by a standard film coating procedure in a suitable coating machine using a non - aqueous solution . the non - ionic protective polymer is selected from the group consisting of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose , hydroxyethyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl cellusose , and polyvinylpyrrolidone . the organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of isopropyl alcohol , methanol and ethanol . other appropriate non - ionic protective polymer may be similarly used . the plasticizer for protective coating includes , but is not limited to , triethyl citrate , propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol 6000 . in a preferred embodiment , the drug active ingredient comprises omeprazole , salt of omeprazole — selected from the group consisting of sodium , potassium , calcium and ammonium salts , lansoprazole or salt of lansoprazole . in another embodiment , the alkaline substance of dosage form mentioned above comprises one or any combination of the following : ( a ) alkaline metallic salt of carbonic acid : calcium carbonate , granulated calcium carbonate ; ( b ) dicalcium phosphate anhydrous , dibasic sodium phosphate anhydrous , tricalcium phosphate , anhydrous ; ( c ) sodium carboxymethylcellulose , calcium carboxymethylcellulose ; ( d ) magnesium aluminum silicate ; ( e ) sodium lauryl sulfate ; ( f ) sodium bicarbonate ; and ( g ) microcrystalline cellulose , hydroxypropylmethylcellulose , hydroxyethylcellulose . also in another embodiment , the pharmaceutical excipient mentioned in the above dosage forms may be selected from one or any combination of the group consisting of dextrose , sorbitol , mannitol , starch , dextrin , maltodextrin , lactose , magnesium stearate , calcium stearate , talc , microcrystalline cellulose , hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and hydroxyethylcellulose . also in another embodiment , the pharmaceutical excipient mentioned in the above dosage forms may be selected from one or any combination of the group consisting of dextrose , sorbitol , mannitol , starch , dextrin , maltodextrin , lactose , magnesium stearate , calcium stearate , talc , microcrystalline cellulose , hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and hydroxyethylcellulose . other appropriate excipients may be similarly used . in a separate embodiment , the enteric coating comprises : ( a ) cellulose acetate phthalate , ( c - a - p ) cellulose acetate trimellitate ( c - a - t ), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate ( hpmcas ), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose phthalate ( hpmcp ), polyvinyl acetate phthalate ( pvap ), anionic phthalate polymers based on methacrylic acid and methacrylic acid esters ; ( b ) compounds either alone or in any combination in organic solvent , ( i . e isopropyl alcohol , methanol , ethanol or ethyl acetate ) containing at least one plasticizer ( i . e . triethyl citrate , polyethylene glycol 6000 or glycerol monostearate , as a coating solution ; ( c ) the group of compounds in ( a ) either alone or in any combination in aqueous dispersion containing at least one plasticizer can be an alternative coating solution ; and ( d ) the process to apply the coating solution or dispersion to said capsules or tablets is a conventional pharmaceutical method . the coating procedures are performed in a suitable coating machine . this invention provides a process for manufacturing the capsule dosage form of above described drug which comprises steps of : ( a ) preparing the granulation by preferably dry mixing the active ingredient and alkaline substance ( s ) or by non - aqueous wet granulation method using only the pharmaceutically acceptable organic solvent , preferably methanol , ethanol or isopropyl alcohol as wetting solution and drying the granulation ; ( b ) filling the capsule with the dried granulation ; and ( c ) coating the capsules with an enteric coating solution or dispersion solution described above . this invention provides a aqueous - free process for manufacturing the tablet dosage form that comprises steps of ( a ) preparing the granulation by preferably dry mixing the active ingredient and alkaline substance or pharmaceutical excipients ; ( b ) directly compressing the granulation into a tablet by a conventional method ; ( c ) filling the tablet into an empty hard gelatin capsule shell and ; ( d ) coating the capsule with an enteric coating . this invention provides an improved pharmaceutical dosage form for oral administration to human being or animal host containing an acid - unstable drug active ingredient which comprises : ( a ) a core tablet formed by dry mixing drug or its salt with alkaline substance and pharmaceutical excipient or excipients and directly compressing , which can be coated with a protective layer as a barrier to : ( i ) separate the acid - unstable active drug in the core from the outer enteric coating ; and ( ii ) protect the entered coating from the permeation of alkaline solution formed by water in the core tablet ; and ( b ) an enteric coating disposed on said protectively coated tablet to protect it from releasing the acid - unstable drug in the stomach and to deliver the active to the small intestine . in an emobodiment of the above process for manufacturing the improved pharmaceutical dosage form , the core granulation is prepared by dry mixing , direct tablet compressing , subcoating the tablet with organic solvent base protective coating ; and coating the subcoated tablets with an enteric coating solution or dispersion . this invention provides an improved pharmaceutical dosage form for oral administration to human being or animal host containing an acid - unstable drug active ingredient which comprises : ( a ) a core tablet formed by dry mixing drug or its salt with alkaline substance and pharmaceutical excipient or excipients and directly compressing , which can then be coated with a protective layer as a barrier to : ( i ) separate the acid - unstable active drug in the core from the outer enteric coating ; and ( ii ) protect the enteric coating from the permeation of alkaline solution formed by water in the core tablet ; ( b ) an enteric coating disposed on said protectively coated tablet to prevent it from releasing the acid - unstable drug in the stomach andto deliver the active to the small intestine ; and ( c ) this tablet is then filled into an empty hard gelatine capsule shell to form a final dosage form . in an embodiment of the above process for manufacturing the improved pharmaceutical dosage form , the core granulation is prepared by dry mixing , direct tablet compressing , subcoating the tablet with organic solvent base protective coating , coating the subcoated tablets with an enteric coating solution or dispersion and filling the said enteric coated tablet into an empty hard gelatin capsule . a . ten grams of omeprazole were granulated with 10 ml . of ethyl alcohol with agitation . the moist granules were dried and screened to obtain a uniform granule size . b . a suspension of omeprazole being 10 grams in 50 ml . of ethyl alcohol was added into 100 grams of an alkaline inert compound being calcium carbonate granules ( delavau , philadelphia , pa .) with agitation to mix homogeneously the liquid and solids . the moist granules were dried and screened for uniform and adequate granule size . c . same as example 1 . b ., except the alkaline substance is calcium carbonate 90a ( particle dynamics , inc ., st . louis ., mo .) d . a mixture of 16 grams of omeprazole and 10 grams of povidone usp was dispersed in 15 ml . of ethyl alcohol . the rest of the procedure is same as example 1 . b . above except that the dispersion was used to replace the suspension for 84 grams of alkaline substance . e . ten grams of sodium carboxymethylcellulose was dispersed in 10 ml . of ethyl alcohol . this liquid was then used to granulate a mixture of 2 grams of omeprazole and 5 grams of calcium carbonate 90a ( same as that used in example 1 . c .). the remaining portion of the procedure is the same as example 1 . b . above . a . ten grams of omeprazole were mixed with an alkaline substance being tricalcium phosphate anhydrous usp / nf and then passed through a screen to obtain a homogenous granule size . b . same as example 2 . a . above except the alkaline substance is pharmaceutical excipient microcrystalline cellulose usp / nf . c . same as example 2 . a . above except the alkaline substance is pharmaceutical excipient lactose , anhydrous usp . d . same as example 2 . a . above except the alkaline substance is pharmaceutical excipient maltodextrin . e . same as example 2 . a . above except the alkaline substance is calcium carbonate 90a ( same as example 1 . c . above ). f . same as example 2 . a . above except the alkaline substance is calcium carbonate granules ( same as example 1 . b . above ). g . same as example 2 . a . above except the alkaline substance is sodium carboxymethylcellulose . the individual core granulation was mixed with 2 % to 5 % talc used as a lubricant , and then quantitatively encapsulated in hard gelatin capsules by known pharmaceutical techniques . a . the individual core granulation was mixed with lactose and talc or magnesium stearate , and compressed into tablets by known pharmaceutical techniques . the hard gelatine capsules obtained from example 3 . above were enteric coated in a conventional film coating machine with the following coating solutions by known pharmaceutical techniques . eudragit l - 100 ® ( methacrylic acid copolymer ) 600 grams isopropyl alcohol 8 , 600 grams triethyl citrate 60 grams fd & amp ; c or d & amp ; c aluminum laks 300 grams purified water 400 grams the tablets obtained from example 4 . were coated in a conventional film coating machine with the following coating solution by known pharmaceutical techniques . methocel e15 ® ( hydroxypropylmethylcellulose ) 500 grams polyethylene glycol e400 110 grams ethyl alcohol 10 , 000 grams the coated tablets obtained from example 6 . a . were enteric coated in a conventional film coating machine with the coating solution being the same as that used in example 5 . by a known pharmaceutical technique . the coated tablets obtained from example 6 . b . were encapsulated in empty hard gelatin capsules to form a capsule product . several formulations were placed in ambient room temperature conditions for stability studies . the color changes of the core granulations were observed . some of the formulations are assayed using usp high pressure liquid chromatographic ( hplc ) methods to determine the amount of drug remaining . the results are shown on table 1 . below .
the present invention relates to new stable enteric coated pharmaceutical dosage forms for oral use containing omeprazole or lansoprazole , to a formulation and a method for the manufacture of such a dosage forms , and to a method of gastric acid pump inhibition and providing gastrointestinal cytoprotective benefit by using them .