Patent 7413752 was granted and assigned to Incept on August, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Compositions and methods are provided to control the release of relatively low molecular weight therapeutic species through hydrogels by first dispersing or dissolving such therapeutic species within relatively hydrophobic rate modifying agents to form a mixture. The mixture is formed into microparticles that are dispersed within bioabsorbable hydrogels, so as to release the water soluble therapeutic agents in a controlled fashion. Methods of using the compositions of the present invention in therapeutic systems are also provided.