ABSTRACT
The manufacture of non-phospholipid liposomes depends on the manipulation of environmental variables in an appropriate temporal sequence so as to cause non-phospholipid amphiphiles to form liposomal structures. The liposomes made of non-phospholipid, membrane mimetic amphiphiles, which are molecules that have a hydrophilic head group attached to a hydrophobic tail and include long-chain fatty acids, long-chain alcohols and derivatives, long-chain amines, and polyol sphingo- and glycerolipids. Several approaches incorporating or coupling of non-phospholipid or modified lipid molecules to the Phospholipid (PL) membranes have been used to enhance liposome stability and improve drug internalization. The non-phospholipid liposomes made by Micro Vesicular Systems, Inc. are engineered for particular applications. Phospholipids are expensive to purify or synthesize and the manufacture of PL is difficult and costly to scale up. Membrane-mimetic amphiphiles include molecules that are insoluble in water but can take up water, and molecules that have appreciable solubility in water under limiting conditions.
