An injectable polymer-lipid blend is provided as a localized drug delivery system for a pharmaceutically active agent. The blend may be prepared from a chitosan-based material, fatty acid and phospholipid. The chitosan-based material may be a water soluble chitosan derivative. The fatty acid may be a fatty acid or a fatty aldehyde, such as laurinaldehyde, having an acyl chain length of C8-C16. The rheological properties of the blend relates to the ratio of the components and to the acyl chain length of the fatty acid. The injectable system is well suited for the delayed release of pharmaceutically active agents in the treatment of cancer and other diseases requiring localized drug delivery.