Patent ID: 8809453

Claim:
A biologically active conjugate comprising a branched polymer covalently attached to a biologically active molecule, wherein the conjugate has the structure: D-L 1 -(X) p —R X′-POLY) q wherein: D is the biologically active molecule; R is an aliphatic hydrocarbon having a length of at least three carbon atoms; L 1 is a linkage resulting from the reaction of a functional group on the linker (X), when present, or on the aliphatic hydrocarbon having a length of at least three carbon atoms (R) of the branched polymer and a functional group of the biologically active molecule; each POLY is a water soluble and non-peptidic polymer that terminates with a hydroxyl or methoxy group; X′ is —O—, —NH—, or —S—; X is a linker of 1 to 10 atoms in length; p is 0 or 1; and q is 2, and further wherein the branched polymer has a molecular weight of about 12,000 Da to about 100,000 Da.