PLGA-PEG-COOH from PolySciTech used in research on nanoparticle drug delivery in neonatal patients

The same kind of medicinal approaches used in adults do not always work the same in children or infants due to physiological and metabolic differences which slowly develop with age. For this reason, it is important for pharmaceutical delivery strategies and medicines to be developed specifically for use in pediatric and neonatal populations. Researchers at University of Washington used PLGA-PEG-COOH (cat# AI107) from PolySciTech division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to create nanoparticles and investigated the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of nanoparticulate drug-delivery systems in young populations. This research holds promise to provide for improved delivery of pharmaceutics in young populations. Read more: Xu, Nuo, Megan Wong, Gabrielle Balistreri, and Elizabeth Nance. "Neonatal Pharmacokinetics and Biodistribution of Polymeric Nanoparticles and Effect of Surfactant." Pharmaceutics 15, no. 4 (2023): 1176. https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/15/4/1176

“Abstract: The development of therapeutics for pediatric use has advanced in the last few decades, yet the off-label use of adult medications in pediatrics remains a significant clinical problem. Nano-based medicines are important drug delivery systems that can improve the bioavailability of a range of therapeutics. However, the use of nano-based medicines for application in pediatric populations is challenged by the lack of pharmacokinetic (PK) data in this population. To address this data gap, we investigated the PK of polymer-based nanoparticles in term-equivalent neonatal rats. We used poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PEG) nanoparticles, which are polymer nanoparticles that have been extensively studied in adult populations but less commonly applied in neonates and pediatrics. We quantified the PK parameters and biodistribution of PLGA-PEG nanoparticles in term-equivalent healthy rats and revealed the PK and biodistribution of polymeric nanoparticles in neonatal rats. We further explored the effects of surfactant used to stabilize PLGA-PEG particles on PK and biodistribution. We showed that 4 h post intraperitoneal injection, nanoparticles had the highest accumulation in serum, at 54.0% of the injected dose for particles with Pluronic® F127 (F127) as the stabilizer and at 54.6% of the injected dose for particles with Poloxamer 188 (P80) as the stabilizer. The half-life of the F127-formulated PLGA-PEG particles was 5.9 h, which was significantly longer than the 1.7 h half-life of P80-formulated PLGA-PEG particles. Among all organs, the liver had the highest nanoparticle accumulation. At 24 h after administration, the accumulation of F127-formulated PLGA-PEG particles was at 26.2% of the injected dose, and the accumulation of P80-formulated particles was at 24.1% of the injected dose. Less than 1% of the injected nanoparticles was observed in healthy rat brain for both F127- and P80-formulated particles. These PK data inform the use of polymer nanoparticle applications in the neonate and provide a foundation for the translation of polymer nanoparticles for drug delivery in pediatric populations. Keywords: nanomedicine; pediatrics; drug delivery; half-life; nanoparticle accumulation; clinical translation”

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