CPG Awarded Patent for Degradable Hydrogel
Cambridge Polymer Group has received notification of the award of their patent “Thiolated PEG-PVA Hydrogels” (14/328,176). This patent describes a new way of creating hydrogels from a conventional biomaterial poly(vinyl alcohol). The resulting hydrogels cure under physiological conditions with no toxic crosslinkers or bi-products and can be tuned to degrade over periods of weeks.
They are therefore likely to see value in drug release, temporary tissue bulking or scaffold applications, and although they can be cured in vitro, they appear particularly well suited to in vivo applications. In fact, we are already working to commercialize this material through the recent award of an NIH Phase 1 SBIR grant in the field of retinal detachment.