The present invention relates to a method for administering a corticosteroid to a posterior segment of an eye. In the method, a sustained release device is implanted to deliver the corticosteroid to the eye. The aqueous corticosteroid concentration remains less than vitreous corticosteroid concentration during release of the corticosteroid from the device.

A package for storing an implantable medical device during storage and shipping includes a containment region for containing the device, a flange surrounding the containment region, and lidstock sealed against this flange. A recess in the containment region permits insertion of a surgical gripping tool below the device support surface. The package may further include ribs that facilitate steadying or gripping the package during removal of the lidstock, and a separate receptacle for holding the device after removal from the containment region. The device is preferably a device implantable in the human eye.

A method of fabricating capsules for sustained and controlled drug delivery. An array of capsules of a hydrophobic polymer is subjected to an extraction process to remove low-molecular-weight monomers, oligomers and polymers, and a laser is used to open accurately sized, spaced, and shaped holes in the capsules. In the process, the laser cutting oxidizes the hydrophobic polymer, making it sufficiently hydrophilic to allow wetting by the contents of the capsules. The capsules are then filled with a hydrophilic polymer covering the laser-cut opening and with one or more drugs for delivery, sealed, and removed from the array for mounting on suture tabs or other mounts. The use of the laser helps insure accurate and reliable delivery of drugs from the capsule.

A drug delivery device for placement in the eye includes a drug core comprising a pharmaceutically active agent, and a holder that holds the drug core. The holder is made of a material impermeable to passage of the active agent and includes an opening for passage of the pharmaceutically agent therethrough to eye tissue. The device includes a layer of material permeable to passage of the active agent. In assembling the device, a pin or weight, having a shape similar to the drug core, is used during curing of the permeable material.

A surgically implantable and sealable delivery device that upon contact of its contents via an interface window or port therein with an organ or tissue exposes a therapeutic agent to the organ or tissue surface, allowing a controlled, selective and unidirectional diffusion of the agent into the tissue or organ. The device protects adjacent organs or tissue structures from unnecessary high levels of the delivered agent. Novel methods to deliver chemotherapeutics or bioactive agents to mammalian organs or tissues through a surgically implanted device by the way of a selective and protected diffusion mechanism are disclosed as well as method to achieve the sealing properties of the device.