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. 05, 2004
Filed:
Oct. 18, 2002
Firouz Asgarzadeh, Hillsborough, NJ (US);
Henry R. Costantino, Newton, MA (US);
Alkermes Controlled Therapeutics Inc. II,, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to crosslinked polymers, synthesized through ring-opening polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated epoxides, in combination with &agr;-hydroxy acids using a hydrophilic macroinitiator, such as poly(ethylene glycol), to form substituted copolymers having ethylenically unsaturated functionality randomly distributed along the polyester polymer backbone. That copolymer is subsequently crosslinked to form a hydrogel network. More particularly, the present invention relates to the synthesis of biodegradable poly(&agr;-hydroxy acid-co-glycidyl methacrylate)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(&agr;-hydroxy acid-co-glycidyl methacrylate) copolymers, which are subsequently crosslinked to form hydrogel networks. The invention also relates to the use of these hydrogel networks in various applications, in particular, for the controlled release of drugs and proteins.