| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20090012604 | POLYMERIC, DEGRADABLE DRUG-ELUTING STENTS AND COATINGS - Absorbable stents and absorbable stent coatings have been developed with improved properties. These devices preferably comprise biocompatible copolymers or homopolymers of 4-hydroxybutyrate, and optionally poly-L-lactic acid and other absorbable polymers and additives. Compositions of these materials can be used to make absorbable stents that provide advantageous radial strengths, resistance to recoil and creep, can be plastically expanded on a balloon catheter, and can be deployed rapidly in vivo. Stent coatings derived from these materials provide biocompatible, uniform coatings that are ductile, and can be expanded without the coating cracking and/or delaminating and can be used as a coating matrix for drug incorporation. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090093872 | POLYMERIC, DEGRADABLE DRUG-ELUTING STENTS AND COATINGS - Absorbable stents and absorbable stent coatings have been developed with improved properties. These devices preferably comprise biocompatible copolymers or homopolymers of 4-hydroxybutyrate, and optionally polylactic acid and other absorbable polymers and additives. Compositions of these materials can be used to make absorbable stents that provide advantageous radial strengths, resistance to recoil and creep, can be plastically expanded on a balloon catheter, and can be deployed rapidly in vivo. Stent coatings derived from these materials provide biocompatible, uniform coatings that are ductile, and can be expanded without the coating cracking and/or delaminating and can be used as a coating matrix for drug incorporation. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090162276 | MEDICAL DEVICES CONTAINING MELT-BLOWN NON-WOVENS OF POLY-4-HYDROXYBUTYRATE AND COPOLYMERS THEREOF - Continuous processing methods for making absorbable polymeric non-wovens with one or more of the following properties: high burst strength, fine fibers of average diameter from 1 μm to 50 μm, and thickness from 10 μm to 50 mm, have been developed. Improved fiber cohesion is made possible by allowing the fibers of the non-woven to initially remain molten during web collection. In the preferred embodiment, the polymer is a polyhydroxyalkanoate, and in the most preferred embodiment, the polymer comprises 4-hydroxybutyrate. A particularly preferred embodiment is a non-woven of poly-4-hydroxybutyrate or copolymer thereof, wherein the non-woven has a burst strength greater than 0.1 Kgf, wherein the non-woven is derived by a continuous melt-blown process. The non-wovens can be used for a variety of purposes including fabrication of medical devices. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090209983 | POLYHYDROXYALKANOATE NERVE REGENERATION DEVICES - Nerve regeneration devices are provided with improved rates of axonal regeneration, and methods for their manufacture are also disclosed. The devices are formed from a biocompatible, absorbable polymer, known as poly-4hydroxybutyrate. Growth factors, drugs, or cells that improve nerve regeneration may be incorporated into the devices. The devices are administered by implantation preferably without the use of sutures. In one aspect, the device is in the form of a wrap that can be used easily to capture the severed nerve bundle ends during surgery, and formed into a conduit in situ. If desired, the edges of the wrap can be melted together to seal the conduit, and hold it in place A major advantage of the device is that it does not need to be removed after use since it is slowly degraded and cleared by the patient's body, yet remains functional in situ beyond the time required for nerve regeneration, and helps exclude scar tissue. The device also degrades in a cell-friendly manner, and does not release highly acidic or inflammatory metabolites. Furthermore, the device is flexible, strong, does not crush the regenerating nerve, is easy to handle, reduces surgical time by eliminating the need to harvest an autologous graft, and allows the surgeon to repair the nerve without a prolonged delay. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20100003300 | INJECTABLE DELIVERY OF MICROPARTICLES AND COMPOSITIONS THEREFORE - Compositions and methods of making and using of microparticle compositions that provide faster flow or improved injectability through smaller or small-diameter needles have been developed. Notably, the microparticle compositions can be successfully delivered or administered through smaller-diameter needles than other microparticle compositions prepared from biocompatible or biodegradable polymers including, for example, poly(lactide), poly(lactide-co-glycolide), polycaprolactone, or poly-3-hydroxybutyrate. The microparticle compositions can exhibit a higher solids loading for a given needle size and/or faster flow through needles than other microparticle compositions. Further, blending or mixing the polymer of the microparticle composition with other polymer formulations can enhance the injectability of the resulting formulation. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100093043 | Biological Systems for Manufacture of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Polymers Containing 4-Hydroxyacids - The gene encoding a 4-hydroxybutyryl-Co A transferase has been isolated from bacteria and integrated into the genome of bacteria also expressing a polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase, to yield an improved production process for 4HB-containing polyhydroxyalkanoates using transgenic organisms, including both bacteria and plants. The new pathways provide means for producing 4HB containing PHAs from cheap carbon sources such as sugars and fatty acids, in high yields, which are stable. Useful strains are obtaining by screening strains having integrated into their genomes a gene encoding a 4HB-CoA transferase and/or PHA synthase, for polymer production. Processes for polymer production use recombinant systems that can utilize cheap substrates. Systems are provided which can utilize amino acid degradation pathways, α-ketoglutarate, or succinate as substrate. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20110008856 | Biological Systems for Manufacture of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Polymers Containing 4-Hydroxyacids - The gene encoding a 4-hydroxybutyryl-Co A transferase has been isolated from bacteria and integrated into the genome of bacteria also expressing a polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase, to yield an improved production process for 4HB-containing polyhydroxyalkanoates using transgenic organisms, including both bacteria and plants. The new pathways provide means for producing 4HB containing PHAs from cheap carbon sources such as sugars and fatty acids, in high yields, which are stable. Useful strains are obtaining by screening strains having integrated into their genomes a gene encoding a 4HB-CoA transferase and/or PHA synthase, for polymer production. Processes for polymer production use recombinant systems that can utilize cheap substrates. Systems are provided which can utilize amino acid degradation pathways, α-ketoglutarate, or succinate as substrate. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110135707 | POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES FOR IN VIVO APPLICATIONS - Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from which pyrogen has been removed are provided for use in numerous biomedical applications. PHAs which have been chemically modified to enhance physical and/or chemical properties, for targeting or to modify biodegradability or clearance by the reticuloendothelial system (RES), are described. Methods for depyrogenating PHA polymers prepared by bacterial fermentation processes are also provided, wherein pyrogens are removed from the polymers without adversely impacting the polymers' inherent chemical structures and physical properties. PHAs with advantageous processing characteristics, including low melting points and/or solubility in non-toxic solvents, are also described. PHAs are provided which are suitable for use in in vivo applications such as in tissue coatings, stents, sutures, tubing, bone and other prostheses, bone or tissue cements, tissue regeneration devices, wound dressings, drug delivery, and for diagnostic and prophylactic uses. Properties which are selected for include degradability, elasticity, inclusion of functional groups or derivatized groups, which can in turn be used to attach targeting agents, and bioadhesion. | 06-09-2011 |
