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[0470] The cumulative amount of enalapril maleate across human cadaver skin at 24 hours increased from 0.029 mg/cm $^{2 }$to 1.826 mg/cm $^{2 }$when the calculated excess NaOH concentration in the dried patch was increased from 1.9% to 6.9% as compared to undetectable flux for the formulation without NaOH. The formulation of Enal-3 provided up to 63-fold more enalapril maleate flux than the formulation of Enal-2. 

[0471] All patents, publications, and other published documents mentioned or referred to in this specification are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. 

[0472] It is to be understood that while the invention has been described in conjunction with the preferred specific embodiments hereof, the foregoing description, as well as the examples which are intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. Other aspects, advantages and modi› fications will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. 

[0473] Accordingly, the scope of the invention should therefore be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which those claims are entitled. 

We claim: 

1. A method for enhancing the flux of an analgesic agent through a body surface, comprising administering the anal› gesic agent and a pharmaceutically acceptable inorganic base to a localized region of a human patient’s body surface; the base being present in an amount effective to provide a pH within the range of about 8.0-13.0 at the localized region of the body surface during administration of the analgesic agent and to enhance the flux of the analgesic agent through the body surface without causing damage thereto; wherein the analgesic agent and base are present in a formulation and the amount of base in the formulation applied to the body surface is the total of (a) the amount required to neutralize any acidic species in the formulation plus (b) an amount equal to approximately 0.3-25.0 wt % of the formulation. 

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the pH is within the range of about 8.0-11.5. 

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the pH is within the range of about 8.5-10.5. 

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the base is selected from the group consisting of ammonium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, mag› nesium hydroxide, magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, sodium acetate, sodium borate, sodium metaborate, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium phosphate, potas› sium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium citrate, 

potassium acetate, potassium phosphate, ammonium phos› phate, and combinations thereof. 

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the base is selected from the group consisting of inorganic hydroxides, inorganic oxides, inorganic salts of weak acids, and combinations thereof. 

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the base is an inorganic hydroxide. 

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the inorganic hydrox› ide is selected from the group consisting of ammonium hydroxide, alkali metal hydroxides, and alkaline earth metal hydroxides. 

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the inorganic hydrox› ide is ammonium hydroxide. 

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the inorganic hydrox› ide is an alkali metal hydroxide selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide. 

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the inorganic hydrox› ide is an alkaline earth metal hydroxide selected from the group consisting of calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide. 

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the base is an inorganic oxide. 

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the inorganic oxide is selected from the group consisting of magnesium oxide and calcium oxide. 

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the base is an inorganic salt of a weak acid. 

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the inorganic salt of a weak acid is selected from the group consisting of ammo› nium phosphate, alkali metal salts of weak acids, and alkaline earth metal salts of weak acids. 

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the inorganic salt of a weak acid is ammonium phosphate. 

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the inorganic salt of a weak acid is an alkali metal salt of a weak acid selected from the group consisting of sodium acetate, sodium borate, sodium metaborate, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium phosphate, potassium carbonate, potassium bicar› bonate, potassium citrate, potassium acetate, and potassium phosphate. 

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the body surface is skin. 

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the body surface is mucosal tissue. 

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the analgesic agent and base are administered by applying a drug delivery device to the localized region of the patient’s body surface thereby forming a body surface-delivery device interface, the device comprising a formulation comprising the anal› gesic agent and base, and having an outer backing layer that serves as the outer surface of the device during use. 

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the formulation is an aqueous formulation. 

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the aqueous formu› lation has a pH within the range of about 8.0-13.0. 

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the pH is within the range of about 8.0-11.5. 

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the pH is within the range of about 8.5-10.5. 

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the aqueous formu› lation is selected from the group consisting of a cream, a gel, a lotion, and a paste. 

