Patent ID: 7097853

Claim:
A transdermal drug delivery device, comprising: (1) a backing; (2) a matrix adhered to one side of the backing and comprising (a) a copolymer comprising (i) one or more A monomers selected from the group consisting of alkyl acrylates containing 4 to 10 carbon atoms in the alkyl group and alkyl methacrylates containing 4 to 10 carbon atoms in the alkyl group; and (ii) optionally one or more ethylenically unsaturated B monomers copolymerizable with the A monomer; and (iii) a macromonomer comprising an ethylenically unsaturated group copolymerizable with the A and B monomers defined above and having a molecular weight in the range 500-500,000; (b) a softener dissolved in the copolymer; and, (c) if the softener is not therapeutically effective, a therapeutically effective amount of a drug, wherein the structure and amount of the comonomers in the copolymer, the inherent viscosity of the copolymer, and the amount and structure of the drug and the softener are such as to provide the matrix with a compliance value in the range of about 2×10 −6 cm 2 /dyne to about 4×10 −3 cm 2 /dyne.