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. 2011 Sep 1;3(3):1377-1397.
doi: 10.3390/polym3031377. Epub 2011 Aug 26.

Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA) as Biodegradable Controlled Drug Delivery Carrier

Hirenkumar K Makadia  1 , Steven J Siegel
Affiliations

Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA) as Biodegradable Controlled Drug Delivery Carrier

Hirenkumar K Makadia et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

In past two decades poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) has been among the most attractive polymeric candidates used to fabricate devices for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. PLGA is biocompatible and biodegradable, exhibits a wide range of erosion times, has tunable mechanical properties and most importantly, is a FDA approved polymer. In particular, PLGA has been extensively studied for the development of devices for controlled delivery of small molecule drugs, proteins and other macromolecules in commercial use and in research. This manuscript describes the various fabrication techniques for these devices and the factors affecting their degradation and drug release.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (x is the number of lactic acid units and y is number of glycolic acid units).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hydrolysis of poly lactic-co-glycolic acid.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Modeled in vivo release profiles for 50:50, 65:35, 75:25 and 85:15 poly lactic-co-glycolic acid. Notation 65:35 PLGA means 65% of the copolymer is lactic acid and 35% is glycolic acid. A biphasic release profile with a initial zero release period followed by a rapid drug release has been observed. The profiles also show increase in release rate with decrease in lactide to glycolide proportion.
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