Patent ID: 8178576

Claim:
A method of delivering an ophthalmically acceptable drug to the eye comprising the steps of (a) preparing an intraocular implant composition comprising a lipophilic compound having a molecular weight of 150-4000 and a pharmaceutically effective amount of a drug, but lacking a polymeric ingredient and an organic solvent that is miscible with or dispersible in water, wherein the composition is solid or semi-solid at a temperature of 37° C. or less and the lipophilic compound is of the formula wherein R 1 is —H, —OH, —COOH, —C n H 2n+1−2m , —COOC n H 2n+1−2m , —COO(CH 2 CH 2 O) n CH 2 CH 2 OH, —CH 2 R 3 , or R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are independently —H, —OH, —COOH, —C n H 2n+1−2m , —OOCC n H 2n+1−2m , —COOC n H 2n+1−2m , —COO(CH 2 CH 2 O) n CH 2 CH 2 OH, —C n H 2n+1−2m COO(CH 2 CH 2 O) n CH 2 CH 2 OH, —OOCC n H 2n+1−2m COOC n′ H 2n′+1−2m′ , —COO − Na + , —COO − Na + , —COO − K + , —SO 3 H, —SO 3 − Na + , —SO 3 − K + , —NH 2 , —Cl, n, n′ and n″ are independently 0-50; and m, m′ and m″ are independently 0-10; and (b) implanting the composition prepared in step (a) in the eye.