Adverse drug reactions (ADR) are among the major problems faced by pharmaceuticals and the healthcare system, causing severe morbidity and mortality, and are responsible for drugs’ withdrawal as well as for clinical trial failures. This affects the business, shareholders, and employees, but even more the therapeutic strategy, the patients, and the whole global health sector. The solution to this problem is to deliver drugs at the diseased site only. Advanced drug delivery systems (ADDS) are capable of delivering the drugs precisely at the diseased location, in the right quantity, and over a long time period; thus reducing side effects, dosing frequency, and enhancing overall patient compliance.

Polymers are an important element in designing ADDS, but the polymers that the industry currently relies on have suboptimal characteristics and technical challenges. Challenges such as complex design, poor drug loading, and suboptimal targeting efficiency can be solved using functional polymers. Polymers with appropriate free functional groups offer favorable interactions with drugs, leading to specific drug targeting, enhanced drug loading, programmed drug release, and improved safety profile.

Therefore, we are providing an innovative and attractive solution in the field of polymer-based ADDS by presenting a novel and unique biodegradable polymer, poly(jasmine lactone), with versatile functionality synthesized using renewable feedstock via an industrial-friendly route. An improved ADDS with high drug loading and targeted drug release can be fabricated easily using our polymer, owing to the opportunity of inserting functional groups of interest in the polymeric chain. This innovation enables the formulation of drugs with smart characteristics to provide benefits to pharma, patients, and healthcare.

https://research.abo.fi/en/projects/jasmine-pro-a-versatile-platform-for-drug-delivery