Patent ID: 8415400

Claim:
A method of delivering a pharmaceutically active agent to a cell, tissue or organ comprising: a) neutralizing ionically-charged polymeric segments of an amphiphilic block copolymer with moieties of opposite charge under conditions that allow for self-assembly of polymer micelles, wherein said amphiphilic block copolymer comprises at least one ionically-charged polymeric segment and at least one non-ionically-charged polymeric segment; b) covalently cross-linking the neutralized ionically-charged polymer segments with a cross-linking agent; c) removing the moieties of opposite charge and unreacted cross-linking agent; d) incorporating a pharmaceutically active agent into the cross-linked ionic core; and e) contacting said cell, tissue or organ with the amphiphilic block polymer micelle of step d) for a period of time sufficient to introduce the pharmaceutically active agent to the cell, tissue or organ.