Novartis AG
Polymerizable polysiloxanes with hydrophilic substituents

Abstract:

The invention provides a hydrophilized polydiorganosiloxane vinylic crosslinker which comprises (1) a polydiorganosiloxane polymer chain comprising dimethylsiloxane units and hydrophilized siloxane unit having one methyl substituent and one monovalent C.sub.10-C.sub.50 organic substituent having two or three carboxy groups, wherein the molar ratio of the hydrophilized siloxane units to the dimethylsiloxane units is from about 0.035 to about 0.25, and (2) two terminal (meth)acryloyl groups. The hydrophilized polydiorganosiloxane vinylic crosslinker has a number average molecular weight of greater than 3000 Daltons. The present invention is also related to a silicone hydrogel contact lens, which comprises repeating units derived from a hydrophilized polydiorganosiloxane vinylic crosslinker of the invention. In addition, the invention provides a method for making silicone hydrogel contact lenses using a lens-forming formulation comprising hydrophilized polydiorganosiloxane vinylic crosslinker of the invention.