Absorbable pharmaceutical compositions based on poly(alkylene oxalates)

Claim 1

In a pharmaceutical depot composition for parenteral administration of effective amounts of a drug released slowly over an extended period of time which comprises a combination of (a) from 1 to 99 percent by weight of composition of a drug in an effective depot amount greater than the single dose amount, and (b) a solid, absorbable polymer which is nonreactive toward body tissue and which undergoes biodegradation in the presence of body fluids into products which are metabolized or excreted by the body without adverse body reaction, the improvement comprising employing as said absorbable polymer a poly(alkylene oxalate) having the formula ##STR2## wherein R is a C 3 to C 16 alkylene and n is the degree of polymerization resulting in a polymer inherent viscosity of at least 0.20 determined at 25° C. on a 0.1 g/dl solution of polymer in CHCl 3 or hexafluoroisopropanol.