Hydrolytically degradable polymers and hydrogels made therefrom

1. A carbamate-containing conjugate having the following structure:

X—O—[(CH 2 CH 2 —O) n —CO 2 ] m —(CH 2 CH 2 —O) n —CONH-Protein

wherein:

X is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, alkenyl and aryl;

(n) can range from 2 to 2000;

(m) can range from 2 to 200; and

Protein is both a biologically active agent and a protein having an amino group for formation of the carbamate linkage.

2. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein X is alkyl.

3. The conjugate of claim 2 , wherein alkyl is methyl.

4. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein (n) is 5 to 500.

5. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein (n) is 10 to 50.

6. The conjugate of claim 1 , wherein (m) is 2.