Patent ID: 7163694

Claim:
A pharmaceutical composition comprising: (a) an active agent; and (b) as a vehicle, the poly (ortho ester) of formula I where n is an integer of at least 5; R is a bond, —(CH 2 ) a —, or —(CH 2 ) b —O—(CH 2 ) c —; where a is an integer of 1 to 10, and b and c are independently integers of 1 to 5; R a is a C 1 –C 4 alkyl; R b is hydrogen or a C 1 –C 2 alkyl; and each A is independently selected from R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 , where R 1 is: where: p is an integer of 1 to 20; R 5 is hydrogen or C 1 –C 4 alkyl; and R 6 is: where: s is an integer of 0 to 30; t is an integer of 2 to 200; and R 7 is hydrogen or C 1 –C 4 alkyl; R 2 is: R 3 is: where: x is an integer of 0 to 30; y is an integer of 2 to 200; R 8 is hydrogen or C 1 –C 4 alkyl; R 9 and R 10 are independently C 1 –C 12 alkylene; R 11 is hydrogen or C 1 –C 6 alkyl and R 12 is C 1 –C 6 alkyl; or R 11 and R 12 together are C 3 –C 10 alkylene; and R 4 is (i) the residue of a diol containing at least one amine functionality incorporated therein, or (ii) the residue of a diol containing at least one functional group independently selected from amide, imide, urea, and urethane groups.