POLIFARMA

Micro- and nano-particulate polymeric systems for the delivery of pharmacologically active molecules

IMAST members involved:

Objective:

One of the most challenging technological challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry is finding a way to release drugs at a constant rate and over a prolonged period of time, thus increasing the therapeutic efficacy of the treatment and reducing side effects. This approach has positive implications for both the treatment of ocular diseases (topical use) and the treatment of early morning pathologies (systemic use). Traditional treatment for these chronic conditions involves daily administration of drugs.
However, the main limitation of these conventional treatments is that they achieve drug blood levels within the therapeutic range for a relatively short time. In other words, the drug risks having a short-lived effect.

To overcome these problems, within the Polifarma project, industrial research activity has focused on the design, development, characterization, formulation and production of nano- and micro-particulate systems for the delivery and controlled release of bioactive molecules:

  • capable of releasing the drug according to precise patterns (e.g. zero order or delayed release or immediate release);
  • physically and chemically stable over time and guarantee the consistency of therapeutic effects over time;
  • easy to use by the patient and with a low level of invasiveness;
  • products with reasonable costs and high process yields.