Patent ID: 8506945

Claim:
An artefact comprising a medical device selected from a solid medical implant device or scaffold, a solid medical device suitable for management of the body as an implant inside the body, or outside the body, and a medical device for cell attachment and directed cell movement, comprising an alternating copolymer comprising a backbone derived from a maleic anhydride compound and an alkene compound, wherein the backbone is the result of alternating radical copolymerisation of maleic anhydride compound with alkene compound, wherein the copolymer also comprises moieties of an active compound containing a nucleophilic group selected from an alcohol, thiol, isocyanate or amine group, bound to the backbone at the anhydride moiety by a moiety of the nucleophilic group, wherein the backbone is derived from maleic anhydride compounds (A) and alkene compounds (B): wherein the maleic anhydride compound of formula (A) is selected from: maleic anhydride; alkyl and cycloalkyl substituted derivatives thereof; and aryl substituted derivatives thereof; and the alkene compound (B) is selected from: alkene; alkoxyl substituted derivatives thereof and their ester derivatives; alkanoyloxy substituted derivatives thereof; aryl substituted derivatives thereof, or wherein a 1 is a proton, a 2 is a proton, methyl or phenyl substituent, b 1 and b 2 are protons, and b 3 and b 4 are methyl substituents; or b 3 is a proton and b 4 is linear aliphatic, phenyl, or linear or branched alkoxyl, optionally substituted with hydroxyl or alkanoyloxl or alkanoyloxyl, or wherein at least one of a 1 and a 2 is an electron-withdrawing species while at least one of b 1 b 2 b 3 , and b 4 is an electron-donating species or vice versa, wherein electron-withdrawing species a 1 and a 2 or b 1 , b 2 b 3 and b 4 are selected from alka(poly)alkenyl, C 6-10 aryl, C 1-24 alkoxyl, C 1-24 alkylthio, C 1-6 alkanoyloxy, C 1-6 alkoxycarbonyl, all of which may be substituted with an electron-withdrawing substituent; and wherein electron-donating species b 1 , b 2 , b 3 and b 4 or a 1 and a 2 as appropriate, include C 1-6 alkyl which can have a linear or branched structure and C 4-9 cycloalkyl.