Nov. 4, 2004  47  US 2004/0220262 Al  TABLE 93  [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.  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.  We claim:  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.  Cumulative Amount of Enalapril Maleate (mg/cm 2 )  Time  5.25 hours  17.25 hours  23.75 hours  Enal-1  0  0  0  Enal-2  0.021  0.029  0.029  Enal-3  1.027  1.640  1.826 