Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
drug development and regulatory approval. The topic of polymeric
drugs was reviewed lately by Dhal et al. [78].
Table 4.3 Examples of polymeric drugs in the market
Company
Application
Trade
name
Polymer
Copaxone ® Random copolymer
composed of L-alanine,
L-lysine, L-glutamic acid,
and L-tyrosine
Teva
Pharmaceutical
Industries Ltd.
Multiple
sclerosis
Renagel ®
Genzyme
Corporation
Chronic kidney
disease
Poly(allylamine)
Sanofi-aventis Osteoarthritis Hyalgan ®
Hyaluronan
Daiichi-Sankyo Cardiovascular
disease
Welchol Cross-linked
poly(allylamine
hydrochloride)
4.3 Polymer-Drug Conjugates
In this section, we will present the basic concepts and innovations
in the field of polymer-drug conjugates and will demonstrate how
Ringsdorf's vision became and is still becoming a reality.
Polymer-anti-cancer drug conjugates typically comprise a
minimum of three components: a water-soluble polymeric carrier,
a biodegradable polymer-drug linkage, and the bioactive agent.
Polymer-drug conjugates progressing through clinical trials, as anti-
cancer agents are, in fact, macromolecular pro-drugs.
From the synthetic point of view, a successful bioconjugation
depends on the chemical structure, molecular weight, steric hindrance,
and the reactivity of the biomolecule as well as the polymer. In order
to synthesize a bioconjugate, both chemical entities need to possess
a reactive or functional groups such as -COOH, -OH, -SH, or -NH 2 .
However, the presence of multiple reactive groups complicates the
synthesis, since it will involve protection or deprotection of those
groups. Many of the most commonly used strategies involve the use
of both coupling agents such as dicyclohexyl carbodiimide (DCC),
1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC), and N , N -
diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC) or the use of N -hydroxysuccinimide
(NHS) esters.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search