SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS PROCESSING: PREPARATION OF PROTEIN MICROPARTICLES AND THEIR STABILISATION

摘要

A process for the co-precipitation of a substance with a stabilizer therefor, by a gas anti solvent process comprising introducing into a particle formation vessel a supercritical fluid pure or mixed with a modifier; and a solution comprising said substance and said stabilizer dissolved in a solvent; so as said solvent is extracted from the solution by said supercritical fluid and co-precipitation of the substance and stabilizer occurs. The process may be carried out using an apparatus, for example, shown in FIG. 1 , comprising a particle formation vessel ( 22 ) and a nozzle ( 27 ) having a central orifice ( 39 ) serving to introduce a solution of the substance and a plurality of outer orifices ( 41 ) serving to carry a flow of supercritical fluid into the particle formation vessel ( 22 ), such that the solvent is extracted from the solution by the supercritical fluid and precipitation of micron sized particles of the substance/stabilizer occurs.