The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 07, 1997
Filed:
Apr. 20, 1995
Steven Henry Gehrke, Cincinnati, OH (US);
E C Lupton, Boston, MA (US);
Matthew E Schiller, Waltham, MA (US);
Lorelle Uhden, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Nitin Vaid, Kanpur, IN;
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Abstract
A method of loading a drug into a crosslinked polymer network and protecting the drug from the effects of inactivation is described. The method includes the steps of contacting a biologically active solute (e.g. drug) with: (i) a gel network; (ii) a loading polymer that is somewhat immiscible with the gel; and (iii) a salt, under conditions sufficient for the biologically active solute to selectively partition into the gel and the salt and the loading polymer to be entrained in the gel. A drug delivery system including a polymer gel network and the drug to be delivered is also described. The system also includes a salt and/or a loading polymer. The system protects the drug from loss of activity. In one embodiment, the polymer gel network is capable of expanding or collapsing in response to a change in an environmental condition to which the gel is exposed, the expanding or collapsing sufficient to release the drug into an environment of use.