PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SOLID MICROPARTICLES

The present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of solid microparticles comprising: a) providing a fluid mixture comprising one or more molecules of interest, one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of lipids, lipid-polymer compounds and polymers, and optionally water, b) mixing the fluid mixture of step a) with a desiccating gas and/or plasticizing gas to provide a dispersion of the fluid mixture of step a) and the desiccating gas and/or plasticizing gas, c) ejecting the dispersion obtained in step b) through a nozzle thereby creating a capillary or preatomized flow, and d) contacting the capillary or preatomized flow obtained in step c) with an expanding liquid or dense CO2 swirling or spiraling flow to obtain the solid microparticles. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the process of the invention.