Disclosed herein is a pharmaceutical composition comprising an active ingredient dissolved in an essentially non- aqueous carrier system comprising volatile and non-volatile components, in which the volatile component comprises a volatile non-solvent for the active ingredient and a volatile solvation additive for the non-solvent and the non-volatile component comprises a non-volatile non-solvent and optionally a non-volatile solvent for the active ingredient, the volatile and non-volatile non-solvents comprising silicone fluids of respectively different viscosity. In one embodiment, the active ingredient is a local anaesthetic such as tetracaine or lidocaine, the volatile solvation additive comprises a lower alcohol containing up to five carbon atoms such as such as ethanol, the volatile non-solvent comprises a linear and/or cyclic silicone, and the non-volatile non-solvent comprises a silicone oil.
