Patent ID: 7056533

Claim:
A method of preparing a crosslinked coating composition for use in delivering a medicament from the surface of a medical device when positioned in vivo, the method comprising the steps of: 1) providing a polymeric reagent formed by the polymerization of the following monomers: a) about 1 to about 20 mole % of a polyether monomer, b) about 5 to about 75 mole % of a carboxylic acid-containing monomer, such that the effective ratio of ether groups to carboxylic acid groups in the resultant copolymer is between about 1 to 1 and about 10 to 1, c) optionally, about 0.1 to about 10 mole % of a photoderivatized monomer, and d) an amount of a hydrophilic monomer suitable to bring the composition to 100%, 2) applying the composition as a coating to the surface of the medical device under conditions suitable to form a gel matrix by a process that includes a complexation reaction between carboxylic acid groups and ether groups, and 3) incorporating a medicament into the composition.