Patent ID: 8835376

Claim:
A process for making excipient matrix particles for delivery of drug nanoparticles, the process comprising the steps of: a. forming a suspension of drug nanoparticles by mixing a precipitant solution with an anti-solvent solution under micro-mixing environment, where said formed drug nanoparticles have a narrow particle size distribution; b. providing an excipient to at least one of said precipitant solution, said anti-solvent solution and said suspension of drug nanoparticles, said excipient being selected to maintain said drug nanoparticles in a dispersed state when in liquid form; and c. drying said suspension of drug nanoparticles containing said excipient therein in a spray dryer to remove solvent therefrom so that said drug nanoparticles are substantially individualized and surrounded or encapsulated by said excipient, wherein the spray dryer has an inlet temperature of drying gas in a range of 110-220° C, an outlet temperature in a range of 20-80° C, and a drying time of less than about 10 seconds, wherein removal of said solvent causes said excipient to solidify and thereby form micro-sized matrix particles with dimension of 1μm to 10μm, each micro-sized matrix particle being comprised of said drug nanoparticles dispersed in a solid matrix of said excipient.