Enhanced loading of solutes into polymer gels

US5603955A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• University of Cincinnati · US

Inventors

• Stevin H. Gehrke · Lawrence, US
• E. C. Lupton · Boston, US
• Matthew E. Schiller · Waltham, US
• Lorelle Uhden · Cincinnati, US
• Nitin Vaid · Kanpur, IN

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 18, 1994
• Grant date: Feb 18, 1997
• Expiry date: Jul 18, 2014

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61L15/60
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

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 of a biologically active solute (i.e., drug) with:(i) a gel network; (ii) a second protectant polymer that is somewhat immiscible with the gel; and (iii) a protectant salt, under conditions sufficient for the biologically active solute to selectively partition into the gel and the protectants to be entrained in the gel. Most preferably, the gel network is a crosslinked gel responsive to a change in an environmental condition to which the gel is exposed.