Polymer in Pharmaceutical Drug Delivery System

Abstract

Abstract: The current review article focuses on polymers in pharmaceutical drug delivery of therapeutic agents. These dosage forms include tablets, patches, tapes, films, semisolids and powders. Polymers are the backbone of a pharmaceutical drug delivery system as they control the release of the drug from the device. Biodegradable polymers attracts the attention of its use as they can be degraded to non‐toxic monomers and most important, a constant rate of drug release can be achieved from a biodegradable polymer based controlled release device. Natural polymers can be used as the means of achieving predetermined rates of drug delivery and their physico‐chemical characteristics with the ease of availability provide a platform to use it as a polymer for drug delivery systems. Biodegradable polymers have been widely used in biomedical applications because of their known biocompatibility and biodegradability. In the biomedical area, polymers are generally used as implants and are expected to perform long term service. These improvements contribute to make medical treatment more efficient and to minimize side effects and other types of inconveniences for patients. The main role of polymer is to protect drug from physiological environment and prolong release of drug to improve its stability. The drug is release from polymer by diffusion, degradation and swelling. In addition to this review presents characteristics and behaviours of plant derived and mucoadhesive polymers which are currently used in drug delivery.