Abstract

AN OVERVIEW OF POLYMER THERAPEUTICS

Dr. (Mrs.) Ganga Srinivasan*,  Ms. Vaishnavi Vaidya.

Abstract

"Polymer therapeutics‟ term refers to polymeric drugs, polymer–drugconjugates, polymer–protein conjugates, polymeric micelles,dendrimers and polyplexes. The discovery of the enhancedpermeability and retention effect by Maeda, along with the polymerdrugconjugate model that was proposed by Ringsdorf, directed theearly steps of polymer therapeutics towards cancer therapy. The highversatility of polymer conjugates and their unique properties allows thedesign of effective treatments for various diseases. Many PEG-proteincomplexes have reached the market, while polymer drug conjugates &polymeric micelles have entered different phases of clinical trials. Inthis article, an overview of polymer therapeutics is discussed with afocus on concepts and examples that characterize the salient features of polymer therapeutics.

Keywords: Anti-cancer medicines, conjugation, dendrimers, EPR effect, polymeric micelles, polyplex.