In past two decades poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) has been among the most attractive polymeric candidates used to fabricate devices for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. PLGA is biocompatible and biodegradable, exhibits a wide range of erosion times, has tunable mechanical properties and most importantly, is a FDA approved polymer. In particular, PLGA has been extensively studied for the development of devices for controlled delivery of small molecule drugs, proteins and other macromolecules in commercial use and in research. This manuscript describes the various fabrication techniques for these devices and the factors affecting their degradation and drug release.

/pdf/poly-lactic-co-glycolic-acid-plga-as-biodegradable-1xyztolf10.pdf

Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA) as Biodegradable Controlled Drug Delivery Carrier

Nanoparticle (NP) drug delivery systems (5−250 nm) have the potential to improve current disease therapies because of their ability to overcome multiple biological barriers and releasing a therapeutic load in the optimal dosage range. Rapid clearance of circulating nanoparticles during systemic delivery is a critical issue for these systems and has made it necessary to understand the factors affecting particle biodistribution and blood circulation half-life. In this review, we discuss the factors which can influence nanoparticle blood residence time and organ specific accumulation. These factors include interactions with biological barriers and tunable nanoparticle parameters, such as composition, size, core properties, surface modifications (pegylation and surface charge), and finally, targeting ligand functionalization. All these factors have been shown to substantially affect the biodistribution and blood circulation half-life of circulating nanoparticles by reducing the level of nonspecific uptake, de...

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/mp800051m

Factors Affecting the Clearance and Biodistribution of Polymeric Nanoparticles

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/29293165/Cancer%20Nanotechnology.pdf?sequence=1

Cancer Nanotechnology: The impact of passive and active targeting in the era of modern cancer biology

/pdf/degradable-controlled-release-polymers-and-polymeric-1y322ha58z.pdf

Degradable Controlled-Release Polymers and Polymeric Nanoparticles: Mechanisms of Controlling Drug Release

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/29005173/Formulation%20of%20Functionalized%20PLGA-PEG.pdf?sequence=1

Josephine Sung

Papers

Formulation of functionalized PLGA-PEG nanoparticles for in vivo targeted drug delivery