US Patent

US8409606 — Drug delivery through hydrogel plugs

Formulation · Assigned to Incept LLC · Expires 2030-05-14 · 4y remaining

Vulnerability score 31/100 Strong — defensible against typical IPR challenges

What this patent protects

This patent protects a medical prosthesis that blocks or reduces tear flow through the eye and delivers a drug, such as Decadron, using a hydrogel plug.

USPTO Abstract

An embodiment is a medical prosthesis for blocking or reducing tear flow through a punctum or canaliculus of a human eye and delivering a drug to the eye that comprises a dehydrated covalently crosslinked synthetic hydrophilic polymer hydrogel with dimensions to pass through a puncta lacrimali, with the dehydrated hydrogel absorbing physiological water to swell to at least 1 mm in cross-sectional width and conformably fit a canaliculus, with the hydrogel comprising a therapeutic agent dispersed through the hydrogel for release to an eye, with the hydrogel having a water content of at least about 50% by weight or volume when allowed to fully hydrate in vitro in physiological saline.

Drugs covered by this patent

Patent Metadata

Patent number
US8409606
Jurisdiction
US
Classification
Formulation
Expires
2030-05-14
Drug substance claim
No
Drug product claim
Yes
Assignee
Incept LLC
Source
FDA Orange Book + USPTO grounding via Google Patents

Bibliographic data sourced from FDA Orange Book + USPTO public records. Plain-English summary generated by AI grounded in source text. Patent term extensions (PTR, SPC, pediatric) may shift the effective expiry. Not legal advice.

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