Development of Modified Biodegradable Polymers for Osmotically Driven Biodegradable Implant Therapeutic System (OBITS) for Polar and Nonpolar Drug A

The ultimate goal of the proposed project is the development of a novel drug delivery system which is cable of providing long-lasting pain relief with superior release profiles (using both polar and nonpolar anesthetic/analgesic drugs while reducing the debilitating side effects, such as loss of motor function or sensation. The proposed system is anticipated to improve the therapy and care of patients suffering from pain by providing a steady effect over a long period of time while reducing the potential side effects. This project will focus on the development and characterization of modified polymers that can be utilized in a conceptually novel drug delivery design configuration for controlled release. The proposed novel drug delivery design virtually eliminates all drug-polymer interactions making the proposed drug delivery platform suitable for application to a variety of chemical compounds. This design configuration relies on the development, fabrication, and characterization of biodegradable microporous membranes. The microporous membranes will be manufactured by incorporation of suitable pore forming agents within the polymeric matrices. These pore forming agents will be identified during the first part of this project. Subsequently , the mechanical and transport properties of the manufactured membranes will be characterized in order to evaluate the technical feasibility of the proposed modified polymeric materials and their subsequent use in the proposed design configuration is expected to have a substantial impact in the field.