Patent 7834138 was granted and assigned to Nektar (pulminary therapeutics business unit) on November, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Segmented water soluble polymers, containing a higher molecular weight segment linked to a lower molecular weight segment, are described. In one embodiment, the polymer segments are poly(ethylene glycol) segments. The segmented polymers are functionalized and are useful for conjugation to various moieties such as pharmacologically active substances. Also described are conjugates of such polymers and methods of their preparation.