Patent ID: 7674471

Claim:
A topical composition precursor comprising a result of melt processing a hydrophobic polymer composition and a hydrophilic polymer composition at a temperature greater than 50° C. and at a water concentration of less than 1 wt. % water: (a) the hydrophobic polymer composition comprising poly(vinylpyrrolidone/alkylene) polymer, wherein the alkylene group contains at least 10 carbon atoms; (b) the hydrophilic polymer composition comprising at least one of: (i) polyacrylic acid having a weight average molecular weight of at least 50,000 and exhibiting less than 1% cross-linking; (ii) starch; (iii) partially hydrolyzed starch; (iv) cellulose; (v) carboxymethyl cellulose; (vi) polyvinyl alcohol; (vii) cyclodextrins; (viii) dextrans; or (ix) mixtures thereof; and (c) the topical composition precursor contains less than 1 wt. % water, wherein the hydrophobic polymer composition is provided at a concentration of about 72 wt. % to about 98 wt. %, and the hydrophilic polymer composition is provided at a concentration of about 2 wt. % to about 25 wt. %, based on the weight of the topical composition precursor.