Patent ID: 8684739

Claim:
A method for sustained delivery of an active ingredient into a film coating and sustained delivery therefrom, comprising the steps of: preparing a mixture, comprising at least one active ingredient and a population of stable, homogeneously-dispersed, porous polymeric or co-polymeric beads prepared from at least one monomer and at least one porogen, the beads being cross-linked with a polyethylenically unsaturated monomer, the beads having a continuous network of interconnecting pores, comprising macropores; mesopores, micropores of <20 â„« diameter, and gel porosity, and wherein the at least one active ingredient is contained within the network of pores; and applying the mixture in fluid or gel form to a surface, thereby forming a film coating, which continuously transports outward the at least one active ingredient by internal flow within the network of pores, resulting in delivery from the macropores to the coated surface for a sustained time of at least 24 hours from application, and wherein the network of pores is non-collapsible upon removal of the active ingredient.