Patent ID: 7166571

Claim:
A method of synthesizing an insulin polypeptide-oligomer conjugate comprising: (a) contacting a proinsulin polypeptide with an oligomer comprising a hydrophilic moiety and/or a lipophilic moiety under conditions sufficient to couple the oligomer to the proinsulin polypeptide and provide a proinsulin polypeptide-oligomer conjugate, wherein the proinsulin polypeptide comprises: (i) an insulin polypeptide; and (ii) one or more non-insulin polypeptides coupled to the insulin polypeptide by peptide bond(s) capable of being cleaved to yield the insulin polypeptide; and (b) cleaving the one or more non-insulin polypeptides from the proinsulin polypeptide-oligomer conjugate to provide the insulin polypeptide-oligomer conjugate.