Pharmaceutical Applications of Plasticized Polymers

The modern pharmaceutical technology is not conceivable without plasticized polymers. The pharmaceutical applications of polymers range from packaging materials or auxiliary substances in conventional dosage forms to membranes or matrices modifying and controlling the drug release characteristics in therapeutic systems. Recently, a great variety of plasticized polymeric systems have been studied as microparticles, matrices, free membranes, membranes for transdermal systems and in situ forming implants. Not only the polymer itself but thorough choice of other ingredients of the polymer system is necessary for required quality of drug delivery system. The plasticizer has the unsubstitutable place in drug polymer system due to its primary role, i. e. improve the flexibility and processability of polymers by lowering the glass transition temperature. The supramolecular structure and relevant properties of specific plasticized polymer drug delivery systems has attracted the interest of many researchers.