Polymers as drugs—Advances in therapeutic applications of polymer binding agents

Abstract

Polymer drugs are those in which a polymer agent has a direct therapeutic effect on the body. A major investigated area of polymer drugs is their use as binding agents, or sequestrants, which can neutralize or remove undesired components from the body. By taking advantage of the unique properties of crosslinked, insoluble polymers, new polymer drugs continue to be developed for oral use, acting in the gastrointestinal tract and excreted in the feces. Soluble polymer binders may be administered by a variety of routes and act at diverse sites of therapeutic action. This article reviews the properties of polymer drugs, particularly sequestrants, with an emphasis on recent advances in polymer properties which may enhance the utility of this class of drugs. V C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 3146-3157 KEYWORDS: polymer binders; polymer drugs; polymer pharmaceuticals; polymer sequestrant; synthetic macromolecular drugs INTRODUCTION Polymers have a wide range of applications in the field of therapeutic development. This article describes polymer drugs in which a polymeric species directly effects the desired pharmacology, and the polymer itself is considered to be the active pharmaceutical ingredient. This is in contrast to the wide usage of polymers that function as excipients (e.g., coatings, viscosifiers, surfactants, etc.), that improves the performance of the pharmaceutical product (active pharmaceutical ingredient) without direct, intrinsic pharmacologic effect.

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