Polymers in Drug Delivery Technology, Types of Polymers and Applications

Polymers play a major role in the development of drug delivery technology by release of two types of drugs like hydrophilic and hydrophobic. In a synchronized manner and constant release of formulations over extended periods. There are numerous advantages of polymers acting as an inert carrier to which a drug can be conjugated, for example the polymer improves the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of biopharmaceuticals through various ways, like plasma 1⁄2 life, decreases the immunogenicity, build ups the stability of biopharmaceuticals, improves the solubility of low molecular weight drugs, and has a potential of targeted drug delivery. However they have their own limitations, such as the naturals polymers are most abundant and biodegradable but are difficult to reproduce and purify. Synthetic polymers have high immunogenicity, which prevent their long term usage. Non-biodegradable polymers are needed to be sugary after they release the drug at the targeted site. The general characteristic features that makes the polymer a potential candidate for drug delivery include, safety, efficacy, hydrophilicity, absence immunogenicity biological inactivity, sufficient pharmacokinetics, and presence of functional groups for covalent conjugation of drugs, targeting moieties, or formation of copolymer.