In this paper, Harth and co-workers reported on the synthesis of biodegradable nanoparticles capable of paclitaxel entrapment and demonstrated the ability to control release of paclitaxel by adjusting the single parameter of the particles’ crosslinking density. Additionally, particles with different densities can be mixed to yield various rates of release that can be fast or slow depending on the specific application. The ability of these particles to withstand simulated gastric fluid allows for the possibility of an oral drug delivery route.
An assessment of nanosponges for intravenous and oral drug delivery of BCS class IV drugs: Drug delivery kinetics and solubilization by David M. Stevens, Kelly A. Gilmore and Eva Harth Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 3551-3554.
Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.
