Patent ID: 8664178

Claim:
A pharmaceutical composition for oral delivery of calcitonin comprising: calcitonin intermixed with coated acid particles, the coated acid particles comprising at least one pharmaceutically acceptable acid that is coated with a pharmaceutically acceptable protective coating to separate the acid from the calcitonin in the composition; an acid-resistant protective vehicle effective to transport the pharmaceutical composition through the stomach of a patient while preventing contact between the calcitonin and stomach proteases; and a water-soluble barrier layer that separates the coated acid particles from the protective vehicle, wherein the calcitonin and the coated acid particles are in the same layer of the composition, wherein total acid in said pharmaceutical composition is in a quantity which, if added to ten milliliters of 0.1 M aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution, would be sufficient to lower the pH of said solution to no higher than 5.5, and wherein the composition does not include an amount of base which, if released together with the acid, would prevent the pH of said solution from dropping to 5.5 or below.