Implantable or insertable medical devices containing acrylic copolymer for controlled delivery of therapeutic agent

1. An implantable or insertable medical device comprising (a) a therapeutic agent and (b) a polymeric release region that controls the release of said therapeutic agent upon administration to a patient, said polymeric release region comprising an acrylic graft copolymer which is a block copolymer comprising (i) a rubbery block of rubbery acrylic units and (ii) a hard block of hard units.

2. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said polymeric release region is a carrier region that comprises said therapeutic agent.

3. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said polymeric release region is a barrier region disposed over a therapeutic-agent-containing region that comprises said therapeutic agent.

4. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said polymeric release region is in the form of a coating layer on the medical device.

5. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said implantable or insertable medical device is selected from a catheter, a guide wire, a balloon, a filter, a stent, a stent graft, a vascular graft, a vascular patch and a shunt.

6. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said implantable or insertable medical device is adapted for implantation or insertion into the coronary vasculature, peripheral vascular system, esophagus, trachea, colon, biliary tract, urinary tract, prostate or brain.

7. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said therapeutic agent is selected from one or more of the group consisting of an anti-thrombotic agent, an anti-proliferative agent, an anti-inflammatory agent, an anti-migratory agent, an agent affecting extracellular matrix production and organization, an antineoplastic agent, an anti-mitotic agent, an anesthetic agent, an anti-coagulant, a vascular cell growth promoter, a vascular cell growth inhibitor, a cholesterol-lowering agent, a vasodilating agent, and an agent that interferes with endogenous vasoactive mechanisms.

8. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said acrylic copolymer has an elongation at break of at least 25% at ambient temperature.

9. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said hard units are selected from methacrylate ester units and vinyl aromatic units.

10. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said copolymer is a linear copolymer.

11. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said copolymer is a branched copolymer having a configuration selected from a star-shaped configuration, a comb configuration and a dendritic configuration.

12. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said rubbery block is selected from a poly(alkyl acrylate) block, a poly(haloalkyl acrylate) block, and a poly(cyanoalkyl acrylate) block.

13. An implantable or insertable medical device comprising (a) a therapeutic agent and (b) a polymeric release region that controls the release of said therapeutic agent upon administration to a patient, said polymeric release region comprising an acrylic graft copolymer which is a block copolymer comprising (i) a rubbery block of rubbery acrylic units and (ii) a hard block of hard units, wherein said rubbery block is a poly(alkyl acrylate) block selected from a poly(methyl acrylate) block and a poly(butyl acrylate) block.

14. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said hard block is a poly(vinyl aromatic) block.

15. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 14 , wherein said poly(vinyl aromatic) block is a substituted or unsubstituted polystyrene block.

16. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said hard block is a poly(methacrylic) block.

17. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 16 , wherein said poly(methacrylic) block is a poly(alkyl methacrylate) block.

18. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 17 , wherein said poly(alkyl methacrylate) block is selected from a poly(methyl methacrylate) block and a poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) block.

19. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said block copolymer is selected from a diblock copolymer and a triblock copolymer.

20. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said block copolymer comprises a first glass transition temperature that is greater than 75° C. and a second glass transition temperature that is less than 10° C.

21. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said rubbery block corresponds to a rubbery phase within said release region at ambient temperatures, wherein said hard block corresponds to a hard phase within said release layer at ambient temperatures that is distinct from said rubbery phase.

22. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said copolymer comprises (a) a first glass transition temperature that is greater than ambient temperature and (b) a second glass transition temperature that is less than ambient temperature.

23. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said polymeric release region further comprises a supplemental polymer.

24. The implantable or insertable medical device of claim 1 , wherein said medical device is sterilized using a quantity of radiation effective to kill pathogens.