Disclosed are preparations and formulations of high thermodynamic activitylipophilic associations (LA), in which there is pairing between an ionizablepharmaceutical agent and a lipophilic species having ionic characteristicsopposite to that of the pharmaceutical agent. Such lipophilic associationsmanifest high thermodynamic activity, as evidenced by their beingpredominantly in a liquid phase at room temperature or solvated in a lower-than-water dielectric solvent. Further the pharmaceutical agent beingsolubilized means that dissolution is not rate limiting to transmucosalabsorption. This LA or LA-solvate is formulated into a low dielectric dosageform, from whence, upon the dosage form's hydration, the pharmaceutical agentis driven through the mucosal tissue and into systemic circulation. Theinvention therefore provides an enhanced transmucosal drug delivery system forionizable pharmaceutical agents at or near physiological pH.
