Polyanhydrides

Abstract

Polyanhydrides have gained a tremendous impetus in pharmaceutical applications especially for short‐term drug delivery. These polymers are hydrolytically unstable and can be easily manipulated for specific applications by modification of their polymeric backbone. The main advantages of these polymers are that they are biocompatible, easy to prepare, based on low cost, easily available starting materials, and degrade into nontoxic low molecular weight monomers. This article given a historical overview of polyanhydrides, and describes then synthesis, structure and properties, characterization, processing for pharmaceutical application, and their in vivo fate after implantation. Various pharmaceutical applications of polyanhydrides and their world market are also discussed.