Innovative polymer-based systems for controlled delivery of drugs

Abstract

Developing innovative engineeringmethodologies that allow for the preparation of precisely defined polymerictherapeutics by simple strategies has significant fundamental interest andenormous potential for medical applications. In this presentation, I will sharethree stories about using synthetic chemistry to prepare biomedical polymerswith aims to improve the delivery of drugs including small molecules andbiopharmaceuticals. The first story will cover some recent works we have doneon extended oral drug delivery to treat infectious diseases by a singleadministration. We synthesize a triggerable tough hydrogel to serve asgastric-resident dosage forms which help to achieve continuous drug release upto 5 days after a single oral dose and significantly improved safety profile ina large animal model. The second story will focus on conjugating protein drugswith polymers for treating type-2 diabetes. We develop a modular method tosynthesize precisely defined protein/peptide–polymer conjugates in a well-controlledmanner of site–specific, stoichiometric and high yield, and show that a singlesubcutaneous injection of the resultant conjugates to mice reaches an extendedglucose reduction up to 3 days. Lastly, I will introduce a versatile approachto prepare well-defined drug loaded nanoparticles via ring-openingpolymerization of prodrug monomers for tumor chemotherapy. The obtainednanoparticles with ultra-high drug loading capacity demonstrate enhancedantitumor efficacy and reduced systemic toxicity in contrast to its free drugin a mouse model.