Typically, several of these vesicles will form one inside the other in diminishing size, creating a multilamellar structure of concentric phosphlipid spheres separated by layers of water. Utilizing proprietary ultra high-shear processing, CLI produces liposomes which are of unilamellar structure, a single phospholipid bilayer sphere enclosing water. Besides being much smaller than multilamellar liposomes, these unilamellar liposomes are of uniform size, usually 200 nanometers or less in diameter. Additionally, the ultra high-shear mixing conditions allow the phospholipids to align and orient themselves into bilayers with more regularity than is possible with other processing techniques, making them much more stable. Collaborative's proprietary processing yields superior liposomes.
Liposomes have a long history in the study of biological membranes.
More recently, liposomes have been evaluated as delivery systems for drugs, vitamins and cosmetic materials. Liposomes can be custom designed for almost any need by varying the lipid content, size, surface charge and method of preparation. The preparation of liposomes requires careful attention to ease of formulation, encapsulation efficiency and production capacity. Collaborative Laboratories, Inc. can design and manufacture liposomes in a multitude of formats to suit specific delivery requirements. CLI's liposome manufacturing capacity exceeds 5 metric tons per day, possibly the largest in the world.