Patent ID: 7285303

Claim:
A method of preparing a powder material and application to a pharmaceutical substrate or substrates, which method comprises preparing a range of pharmaceutically acceptable powder materials, the particles of each of the powder materials comprising a core and a shell surrounding the core; for each powder material, encapsulating a desired core material with a shell material, the core material comprising a component which can be varied selected from a binder polymer, one or more additives selected from a colorant, an opacifier, a pharmaceutically active material and a filler and optionally one or more other additives, the shell material having different physical and/or chemical properties from the core material and comprising a binder polymer and optionally one or more other additives, and wherein the same shell material is used for the range of powder materials produced; and electrostatically applying one or more of said powder materials produced to a pharmaceutical substrate or substrates; whereby a universal shell material is provided for use with various variable core compositions, permitting alterations to the components in the core without affecting electrostatic application of the powder material to a substrate.