RV College of Engineering, Bangalore

                      Industry Certified Research Internship

POLYMERS IN DRUG DELIVERY  

Submitted by
Deekshasushmith S
1RV18CH008

Under the guidance of Prof. Roopa J

Polymers are being used extensively in drug delivery due to their surface and bulk properties. They
are being used in drug formulations and in drug delivery devices. These drug delivery devices may be in
the form of implants for controlled drug delivery. Polymers used in colloidal drug carrier systems,
consisting of small particles, show great advantage in drug delivery systems because of optimized drug
loading and releasing property. Polymeric nano particulate systems are available in wide variety and
have established chemistry. Nontoxic, biodegradable and biocompatible polymers are available. Some
nano particulate polymeric systems possess ability to cross blood brain barrier. They offer protection
against chemical degradation. Smart polymers are responsive to atmospheric stimulus like change in
temperature; pressure, pH etc. thus are extremely beneficial for targeted drug delivery. Some
polymeric systems conjugated with antibodies/specific biomarkers help in detecting molecular targets
specifically in cancers. Surface coating with thiolated PEG, Silica-PEG improves water solubility and
photo stability. Surface modification of drug carriers e.g. attachment with PEG or dextran to the lipid
bilayer increases their blood circulation time. Polymer drug conjugates such as Zoladex, Lupron Depot,
On Caspar PEG intron are used in treatment of prostate cancer and lymphoblastic leukemia. Polymeric
Drug Delivery systems are being utilized for controlled drug delivery assuring patient compliance. 
VARIOUS
POLYMERS USED IN
DRUG DELIVERY 
Many polymers are used in drug
delivery according to their properties.
1. poly lactic-co-glycolic acid
(PLGA): it the most attractive
polymeric candidates used to
fabricate devices for drug delivery
and tissue engineering applications.
PLGA is biocompatible
and biodegradable, exhibits a wide
range of erosion times, has tunable
mechanical properties.
2.PGA(poly glycolic acid)
Polyglycolic acid (PGA) is a
biodegradable, thermoplastic polymer
and the simplest linear, aliphatic
polyester. It can be prepared starting
from glycolic acid by means of
polycondensation or ring-opening
polymerization. PGA has been known
since 1954 as a tough fiber-forming
polymer. 
3.Poly-l-glutamic acid Polyglutamic
acid (PGA) is a polymer of the amino
acid glutamic acid (GA). Gamma
PGA is formed by bacterial
fermentation. Gamma PGA has a
wide number of potential uses
ranging from food and medicine to
water treatment. It is widely being
used as a drug delivery system in
cancer treatment. 
4.Polylactic acid It is a biodegradable
thermoplastic aliphatic polyester
derived from renewable resources,
such as co r n starch (in the United
States and Canada), tapioca roots,
chips or starch (mostly in Asia), or
sugarcane (in the rest of the world). 
5.PNIPAAm [Poly(N-
isopropylacrylamide)]
 It is a temperature responsive
polymer that was first synthesized in
the 1950s.It can be synthesized from
N-isopropylacrylamide which is
commercially available. It is
synthesized via free radical
polymerization and is readily
functionalized making it useful in a
variety of applications. 
6.pHEMA[Poly 2-hydroxyethyl
methacrylate]
 It is a polymer that forms a hydrogel
in water. Poly (hydroxyethyl
methacrylate). It was invented by
Drahoslav Lim and Otto Wichterle for
biological use. Together they
succeeded in preparing a cross-linking
gel which absorbed up to 40% of
water, exhibited suitable mechanical
properties and was transparent. They
patented this material in 1953. 
7.PPy [Polypyrrole] 
It is a type of organic polymer formed
by polymerization of pyrrole.
Polypyrroles are conduction
polymers, related members being
polythiophene, polyaniline, and
polyacetylene. The Nobel Prize in
Chemistry was awarded in 2000 for
work on conductive polymers
including polypyrrole. The first
examples of polypyrroles were
reported in 1963 by Weiss and
coworkers
8.Dextran
Dextran is can be defined by
Leuconostoc mesenteroides (lactic-
acid bacteria with the help of which
dextran is synthesized using sucrose)
which contains a glucan which is
(16)-linked and has side chains that
are attached to the backbone of 3-
positions of glucose units. The
straight chain consists of α-1,6
glycosidic linkages between the
molecules of glucose. The branching
starts from α-1,3 linkages 
9.PAMAM [Poly (amidoamine)] 
It is a class of dendrimer which is
made of repetitively branched
subunits of amide and amine
functionality. PAMAM dendrimers,
sometimes referred to by the trade
name Starburst, have been extensively
studied since their synthesis in 1985,
and represent the most well-
characterized dendrimer family as
well as the first to be commercialized.
Like other dendrimers, PAMAMs
have a sphere-like shape overall, and
are typified by an internal molecular
architecture consisting of tree-like
branching, with each outward “layer”,
or generation, containing
exponentially more branching points 
CONVENTIONAL USE OF POLYMERS IN DRUG
DELIVERY
Conventional drug delivery systems use doses of drugs in form of capsules, tablets which are formed by
compression, coating and encapsulation of bioactive drug molecules . Polymers play a versatile role in
such conventional formulations; they serve as binding agents in capsules, film coating agents in tablets
and viscosity enhancers in emulsions and suspensions. Some of the polymers given along with bioactive
drug molecules include cellulose derivatives, poly (N-vinyl pyrrolidone) and poly (ethylene glycol)
PEG. 
SMART POLYMERS 

Smart polymers are those which exhibit change depending upon the change in environmental conditions.
In medicine stimuli responsive polymers show the change in their properties in response to the change in
biological conditions . The various stimuli may be temperature, pressure, pH, electric field, magnetic
field, light, change in concentration, ionic strength, redox potential etc. . Responses to such stimuli
include dissolution, precipitation, swelling, change in conformation, and change in hydrophobic and
hydrophilic properties. There is change in pH along the GI tract which is considered during design of
oral drug delivery systems . The cancerous tissue and swelled tissue show a drastic variation in ph.
Polymer bound drugs are released in such tissues due to deprotonation/protonation of complex polymer
structure under the conditions of altered ph. Poly (methacrylic acid) jointure with PEG, referred to as P
(MAA-g-EG) has been used for oral protein delivery . Similarly temperature responsive polymers bring
about change in hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of polymers enhancing their membrane permeation.
PNIPAAm, is a thermo responsive polymer and it is being thoroughly studied for its ability to undergo a
negative temperature-dependent phase transition. 
• Below its lower critical solution temperature , PNIPAAm exists as a hydrophilic coil, whereas above
the LCST, PNIPAAm chains convert sharply into a hydrophobic globule . This volume phase
transition arises from the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance of polymer chains, which is modulated by
formation and disruption of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions both within and among the
molecules. Alteration in polymer properties can be used to: 
• Adhere to the cell surface 
• Break down cellular membrane and  
• Release biologically active compound. Stimuli responsive polymers can be broadly categorized into
micelles, polyplexes and polymer drug conjugates.
POLYMERS IN NOVEL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS 

Chemical engineers, pharmacologists and scientists are using polymers for developing controlled drug
release systems and sustained release formulations . Novel drug delivery systems include micelles,
dendrimers, liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, cell ghosts, microcapsules and lipoproteins. Recent
advancements in polymer based encapsulations and controlled drug release systems help in regulating
drug administration by preventing under or overdosing . These advanced systems play a promising role
in improving bioavailability, minimizing side effects and other types of inconveniences caused to the
patients. 
• Studies need to be performed in the areas of surface and bulk properties of polymers as these
properties govern their utilization various applications. Role of polymers in drug delivery will grow
steeply in future to handle various unsolved issues. These issues may include site specific drug
delivery in subcellular organelles, harnessing chemical, physical and biological properties efficiently
to optimize drug administrations. Nano composites have shown to penetrate deep blood brain
barriers . Through this paper we emphasize on the role of polymers in existing and novel drug delivery
systems both as formulations and in devices, their advantages and limitations. 
ADVANTAGES: 
1. Polymers used in colloidal drug carrier systems, consisting of small particles, show great advantage in
drug delivery systems because of optimized drug loading and releasing property.
 2. A polymer (natural or synthetic) is aggregated with a drug in controlled drug delivery and hence it
gives a effective and controlled dose of dug avoiding overdose .
 3. The degradable polymers are ruptured into biologically suitable molecules that are assimilated and
discarded from the body through normal route.
 4. Reservoir based polymers is advantageous in various ways like it increase the solubility of
incompetently soluble drugs and it lowers the antagonistic side effects of drugs. 
5. Magneto-optical polymer coated and targeted nanoparticles are multimodal (optical and MRI
detection) while Quantum Dots are only optically detectable. 
6. Some Quantum dots contain Cd which is known to be toxic to humans. Magneto/optical nanoparticles
whether polymer coated or targeted are composed of iron oxides/polymers which are known to be safe,
therefore have great future. 
DIFFICULTIES AND CHALLENGES 
1. Difficult to scale the process up and production in high amounts is expensive as microspheres are
batch operations inherently .
 2. It is possible to reproduce the distribution of size of the microsphere particles but the result is not
uniform generally and the standard deviation that we get is equal to half of the average size. This is quite
common. The distribution of the size should be as narrow as possible since the rate at which the drug
will be released as well as syringe ability depends on the size of the sphere directly. 
3. With the presence of organic solvents and aqueous-organic interfaces on drugs that are encapsulated
leads to adverse effects like eliminating the bioactivity of microspheres.
4. It is not an easy task to remove the organic solvents totally as mostly they are toxic and there should
be a regulation on the concentration of residual solvents in the microsphere.
 5. A crucial limitation in the development of biodegradable polymer microspheres for controlled-release
drug delivery applications is the difficulty of specifically designing systems that exhibit precisely
controlled release rates.
 6. Core-shell microparticles are significantly more difficult to manufacture than solid microspheres. 
7. Handling and fabricating the microsphere's architecture is not easy as its shell and core must be
immiscible.