Synthesis, conjugation and evaluation of some novel polymers and their micro particles for sustained release drug formulations.

To prepare and evaluate three novels functionalized polymers (PGA, PGA-co-caprolactone & PGA-co-pentadecalactone) for the development of nanoparticles which were further used in the development of a novel polymeric prodrug using Ibuprofen as a model drug. The Ibuprofen-polymer prodrug was developed by coupling the drug to one of the three prepared polyester polymers via ester linkage. A hydrolytic enzyme was used to prepare two polymer monomers, glycerol and polyvinyl adipate, which are non toxic, ester linked biological monomers. The polymers and their prodrug were characterized using NMR, GPC, UV-spectrophotometer and DSC. In vitro drug release study of Ibuprofen-polymer conjugate was performed in phosphate buffer PH 7.4 using a roller (Stuart STR 1) placed in an incubator (Stuart SI 60) and the temperature was kept constant at 37 ± 1°C. Among the three polymers, glycerol-adipate-co-pentadecalactone was observed to give a burst release following slow release in the medium. These characteristics suggest that these polymers can be successfully used in sustained release drug formulations.