Drug-eluting implants made of "green" materials for long lasting therapies (360G-Wellcome-207168_Z_17_Z)

Controlled release implants offer many potential advantages over traditional, periodic systemic injections including reduction or elimination of unwanted side-effects, enhanced efficacy and increased patient convenience and compliance. Implantable drug delivery devices also offer several advantages over conventional oral or parenteral dosage forms. Firstly, implantable devices allow site specific drug administration where the drug is needed most. For this application, biodegradable materials are particularly attractive as they require no surgical retrieval. Naturally-derived biodegradable materials generally offer superior biocompatibility and milder processing compared with synthetic degradable materials. The main aim of this project is to develop drug eluting implants based on natural biopolymers providing long lasting drug release. The devices will be formulated using two natural ocurring polymers zein and lignin. These two biopolymers can be obtained from renewable sources and consequently are a more environmental-friendly option and will reduce significantly the cost of the implants.Model molecules will be used to evaluate drug release: nile red as a model of hydrophobic drugs and methylene blue as a model for hydrophilic drugs. This will be achieved by: Formulation and characterization of zein/lignin implants containing hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules. Evaluating biocompatibility of the developed systems. Evaluating drug release from the developed systems.