Polymers in Drug Delivery Systems

The future of pharmaceutical industry is now shifting from new drug research to novel drug delivery systems. Biopharmaceuticals present challenges because of their unique nature and difficulty in delivery through conventional routes. These challenges inspire for the invention of new medical grade polymers for novel drug delivery systems. Polymeric drug delivery systems bring a true benefit over glass. Polymer provide improved robustness against breakability and better ergonomy, while delivering for many product an adequate stability performance level regarding water/gas permeability as well as extractible/leachable. Polycarbonate and Cyclic Olefin Copolymer are an excellent substitute of glass drug delivery systems because of its unique characteristics. Polycarbonate falls under the category of Amorphous polymers that is used as clear as glass but lighter and less prone to breakage. Polycarbonate and Cyclic Olefin Copolymer are also more resistant to water transmission than Polypropylene which was first time used for polymeric prefilled drug delivery systems. Due to this extra ordinary property it lengthen the shelf life of the drugs. Cyclic Olefin Copolymer provides an impressive array of physical and chemical properties that are attractive to drug makers, like high heat resistance: material is autoclvable, excellent low temperature characteristic, high break resistance, high transparency, low extractables, solvent resistance, wide range of pH stability, easy safe and environmentally friendly disposal. Because biocompatibility is essential for any material used in direct or indirect contact with patients, Polycarbonate and Cyclic Olefin Copolymer grades comply with biocompatibility testing standards such as ISO 10993-1 and USP Class VI. Due to this extra ordinary combination of physical-chemical properties and biocompatibility with drug formulations, Polycarbonate and Cyclic Olefin Copolymer can be used for pre-filled syringes, needleless injectors and other drug delivery systems.