Patent ID: 8268333

Claim:
An orally administered agent comprising a drug-containing layer that contains a drug, a first water-swellable gel-forming layer that is provided on one side of said drug-containing layer, and a second water-swellable gel-forming layer that is provided on the other side of said drug-containing layer, wherein the first and second water-swellable gel-forming layers are formed from a composition that contains at least a water-swellable gel-forming agent of carboxyvinyl polymer, a film-forming agent, and a polyvalent metal compound as a cross-linking agent, the content of said water-swellable gel-forming agent in said composition is 13.5 to 70 wt %, and the content of said polyvalent metal compound in said composition is 1.5 to 5.6 wt %, said polyvalent metal compound is at least one of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, aluminum chloride, aluminum sulfate, aluminum potassium sulfate, iron chloride alum, ammonium alum, ferric sulfate, aluminum hydroxide, aluminum silicate, aluminum phosphate, iron citrate, magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, zinc oxide and zinc sulfate, said first and second water-swellable gel-forming layers are provided over the whole of the faces of said drug-containing layer, outer edges of said first and second water-swellable gel-forming layers each having an adhesive layer thereon, and said adhesive layers of the outer edges of said first and second water-swellable gel-forming layers being bonded together so as to enclose said drug-containing layer inside the orally administered agent, and said drug is released in a stomach or an intestine from the orally administered agent after administration.