Polymer drug conjugates have offered a promising solution to cancer treatment. The use of a polymeric carrier for therapeutic moieties has led to improved plasma lifetime, as well as enhanced targeting through the enhanced permeation and retention effect. Since their conception from Ringsdorf in 1975, these delivery vehicles have grown in popularity and have expanded to include many architectures including dendrimers, branched, brush, and block copolymers. Polymers such as poly(lactic acid) have found widespread use in this field due to their favorable biodegradable characteristics and safety profiles. The release of drug from poly(lactic acid) may not be controlled, however, due to the release of drug-oligomer species caused by degradation along the ester backbone in addition to the triggerable drug linker. The use of a more robust, slowly degrading backbone may tune the release such that oligomeric drug species are reduced or eliminated. In this study, we investigate the utility of biodegradable poly(trimethylene carbonate) as a more robust polymer backbone for a polymer-drug conjugate. To ensure a high drug loading, polymerization is initiated with our model drug, camptothecin, to form nanoconjugates. These nanoconjugates are then assembled into nanoparticles and their degradation and release properties are investigated.

Drug-initiated, pH-responsive polycarbonate nanoparticles for controlled drug release

246th National Meeting (2013)

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