Hepatoselective pharmaceutical actives

A method of delivering a pharmaceutically active compound to a human or an animal comprising:

• a) covalently bonding to the pharmaceutically active compound a pendant molecular moiety which is a naturally occurring hormone or an analogue thereof to form a conjugate compound which has a molecular weight of less than 25 kD;
• and
• b) administering the said conjugate compound to a human or an animal whereby the conjugate compound is delivered to the circulatory system of the said human or animal and forms a complex therein with one or more binding proteins naturally present in the said circulatory system, said complex having a molecular weight of more than 25 kD.

A method of directing a pharmaceutically active compound selectively to the liver of a human or animal comprising the steps:

• a) covalently bonding to the pharmaceutically active compound a pendant molecular moiety which is a naturally occurring hormone or an analogue thereof to form a conjugate compound which has a molecular weight of less than 25 kD;
• and
• b) administering the said conjugate compound to a human or an animal whereby the conjugate compound is delivered to the circulatory system of the said human or animal and forms a complex therein with one or more binding proteins naturally present in the said circulatory system, said complex having a molecular weight of more than 25 kD.

A method of forming a complex in the systemic circulation of a human or animal comprising the Steps of:

• a) covalently bonding to the pharmaceutically active compound a pendant molecular moiety which is a naturally occurring hormone or an analogue thereof to form a conjugate compound which has a molecular weight of less than 25 kD;
• and
• b) administering the said conjugate compound to a human or an animal whereby the conjugate compound is delivered to the circulatory system of the said human or animal and forms a complex therein with one or more binding proteins naturally present in the said circulatory system, said complex having a molecular weight of more than 25 kD.

A method of treating diabetes in a human or animal with insulin, or a functional equivalent thereof, comprising the step of administering a conjugate compound having a molecular weight of less than 25 kD comprised of insulin, or a functional equivalent of insulin, covalently bound to a molecule having an affinity for one or more binding proteins naturally present in blood plasma of a human or animal, whereby the conjugate reaches the systemic circulation of the human or the animal and in the circulation forms a complex having a molecular weight of more than 25 kD with the one or more binding proteins.

A method of selectively delivering a pharmaceutically active compound to hepatocytes in a human or animal comprising

• (a) covalently bonding to the pharmaceutically active compound a pendant molecular moiety to form a conjugate compound which has a molecular weight of less than 25 kD and
• (b) administering said conjugate compound to a human or an animal whereby said conjugate compound is delivered to the circulatory system of the said human or animal and forms a complex therein with one or more binding proteins naturally present in said circulatory system, said complex having a molecular weight of more than 25 kD.