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Development of polylactide and polyethylene vinyl acetate blends for the manufacture of vaginal rings
Author(s) -
Mc Conville Christopher,
Major Ian,
Friend David R.,
Clark Meredith R.,
Woolfson A. David,
Malcolm R. Karl
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.31919
Subject(s) - vinyl acetate , silicone , microbicides for sexually transmitted diseases , polymer , biodegradable polymer , materials science , polyethylene , flexibility (engineering) , elastomer , polymer science , polymer chemistry , composite material , copolymer , population , statistics , demography , mathematics , sociology , health services
Vaginal rings are currently being investigated for delivery of HIV microbicides. However, vaginal rings are currently manufactured form hydrophobic polymers such as silicone elastomer and polyethylene vinyl acetate (PEVA), which do not permit release of hydrophilic microbicides such as the nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor tenofovir. Biodegradable polymers such as polylactide (PLA) may help increase release rates by controlling polymer degradation rather than diffusion of the drug through the polymer. However, biodegradable polymers have limited flexibility making them unsuitable for use in the manufacture of vaginal rings. This study demonstrates that by blending PLA and PEVA together it is possible to achieve a blend that has flexibility similar to native PEVA but also allows for the release of tenofovir. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2012.