mPEG-PLA from PolySciTech used in research on micelle formation and behavior.

 

Polymer micelles have great potential to solubilize and deliver hydrophobic drugs in the body. Researchers at Adelaide University, Noakhali Science and Technology University, used PEG-PLA (AK007, https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AK007#h) from PolySciTech : Akina, Inc. (www.PolySciTech.com) as part of their research into understanding micelle formation and behavior for delivery of hydrophobic drugs. This research holds promise to improve drug delivery for currently difficult to administer medications. Read more: Hussain, Md Saddam, Riya Khetan, Hugo Albrecht, Marta Krasowska, and Anton Blencowe. "Correlation of Polymer–drug Composition with Micelle Properties, Performance, and Cytotoxicity for the Oligoelectrolyte-mediated pH-triggered Release of Hydrophobic Drugs." Polymers 18, no. 2 (2026): 247. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12846188/

“Polymeric micelles have the potential to improve the efficacy and safety of drug delivery by improving drug solubility, enhancing bioaccumulation and reducing off-target toxicity. Despite excellent safety profiles, a major limitation with polymeric micelles is their inability to rapidly release their payload once they have reached their target, leading to the inadequate delivery of therapeutic doses. To address this limitation, we have developed a novel strategy to impart pH-responsiveness in non-responsive micelles through the co-encapsulation of oligoelectrolytes with drugs. Herein, we investigate the influence of copolymer composition and drug identity in combination with oligoelectrolyte—oligo(2-vinyl pyridine) (OVP)—loading on pH-triggered drug release from micelles and their cytotoxicity. A library of OVP-loaded micelles was prepared using conventional and well-established non-responsive block copolymers. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was used to monitor the changes in the micelles as a function of pH. Regardless of the copolymer composition, an abrupt decrease in the hydrodynamic diameter (Dh) was observed as the pH was reduced due to OVP expulsion from the core, which was also confirmed by release studies. In general, co-encapsulation of OVP and model drugs (doxorubicin (DOX), gossypol (GP), paclitaxel (PX), and 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN38)) in the micelles provided good to excellent encapsulation efficiency percentage (EE%) values. In vitro studies revealed the pH triggered release of drugs from the OVP-loaded micelles regardless of the drug identity, which increased as the OVP loading increased. This general behaviour was observed in all cases, largely independent of the copolymer composition, albeit with subtle differences in the release profile for different drugs. Compared to their blank counterparts, the drug-loaded micelles displayed a slight increase in cytotoxicity against a panel of cancer cell lines, in a dose dependent manner. However, drug- and OVP-loaded micelles displayed a significant increase in cytotoxicity (up to 8-fold increase) that was independent of the copolymer composition. These results demonstrate the versatility of the oligoelectrolyte-mediated approach to furnish non-responsive micelles with a pH-trigger that allows the rapid release of drugs, regardless of the micelle composition or the drug identity. Keywords: diblock copolymer, polymeric micelles, oligoelectrolyte, pH-responsive, triggered release, drug delivery”

Benchtop to Bedside with MidWest GMP https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of delivery system for mallotumide A as a treatment for triple negative breast cancer

 

Mallotumide is a cycloheptapeptide with anticancer activity. To this date, triple-negative breast cancer remains resistant to most treatment options. Researchers at Mahidol University and Academia Sinica, PLGA (AP059, https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AP059#h) from PolySciTech : Akina, Inc. (www.PolySciTech.com) to develop a targeted, nanoparticle for anticancer therapy towards this form of breast cancer. This research holds promise to provide for treatment against breast cancer. Read more: Manohong, Preeyanuch, Natthapat Sawektreeratana, Sopon Nuchpun, Tipaporn Kumkoon, Pattaree Payomhom, Chayanee Laowittawat, Sarawut Jitrapakdee et al. "Encapsulation of Plant‐Derived Cycloheptapeptide Mallotumide A in Riboflavin‐Modified Poly (Lactic‐Co‐Glycolic Acid)/Chitosan Nanoparticles." Macromolecular Materials and Engineering 311, no. 1 (2026): e00385. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mame.202500385

“Mallotumide A (MA) is a novel cycloheptapeptide isolated from the roots of Mallotus spodocarpus Airy Shaw. It exerts anticancer activity by downregulating several lipogenic enzymes and cellular respiration, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer. However, MA has poor water solubility and is highly toxic to both cancer and normal cells, limiting its therapeutic applications. To address these drawbacks, MA was encapsulated within poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) and coated with riboflavin (Rf)-modified chitosan (CR), creating (MA)PLGA/CR NPs. This study characterized the NPs and investigated their encapsulation efficiency of MA, cellular uptake, and anticancer activity in two breast cancer (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) and normal (MCF-10A) cell lines. The NPs were spherical with an average size of 300 ± 6.64 nm and a zeta potential of +11.96 mV. The PLGA/CR NPs exhibited enhanced cellular uptake in both cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, while reducing toxicity in normal cells. Furthermore, the (MA)PLGA/CR NPs inhibited the viability, migration, and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells, thereby demonstrating their potential as a targeted anticancer delivery system.”

Benchtop to Bedside with MidWest GMP https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of bone-tissue scaffolding for tissue regeneration

 

In order to heal defects in bone caused by either disease or trauma, there needs to be a scaffold or a structure for bone cells to attach to and grow. Ideally this structure would mimic the properties of the natural extracellular matrix of bone. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University and Westlake University (China) Used PLGA (Cat# AP230, https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AP230#h) from PolySciTech : Akina, Inc. (www.PolySciTech.com) as part of their development of bone tissue scaffolding. This research holds promise to improve regenerative medicine. Read more: Wang, Yuqi, Su Yan, Xinyu Tan, Ethan Gerhard, Hui Xu, Haiyue Jiang, and Jian Yang. "The genesis of citrated ultrathin hydroxyapatite nanorods." Science Advances 12, no. 3 (2026): eaeb6538. https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aeb6538

“Ideal orthopedic biomaterials should replicate both the hierarchical structure and exceptional mechanical strength of natural bone. Traditional polymer-hydroxyapatite composites, typically limited up to 40 wt % hydroxyapatite, offer only modest mechanical improvements. Efforts to enhance strength by using stiffer polymers have largely failed, as increased polymer stiffness does not translate to improved composite mechanics. In contrast, natural bone’s load-bearing capability arises from the synergy between citrate, soft collagen, and ultrathin hydroxyapatite nanocrystals (~3 nanometers). Here, we show that elastic poly(octamethylene citrate) enables up to 60 wt % hydroxyapatite incorporation, mimicking the bone’s mineral content. Through a top-down “citrification” process and hot pressing, hydroxyapatite microparticles are partially dissolved and recrystallized into superthin (~5 nanometers) nanorods, enhancing organic-inorganic integration and replicating bone’s Ca/P ratios and architecture. The resulting composites exhibit compressive strengths exceeding 250 megapascals, unprecedented in polymer-mineral systems, offering a molecular design strategy for next-generation load-bearing orthopedic implants.”

Benchtop to Bedside with MidWest GMP https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of bone-targeting nanoparticles for treatment of MRSA

 

Bacterial infection of bone tissue is extremely difficult to treat due to poor drug delivery. Researchers at Temple University (Philadelphia) used PLGA (Cat# AP022, https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AP022#h) ) from PolySciTech : Akina, Inc. (www.PolySciTech.com) to develop bone-targeting nanoparticles for treatment of bone-MRSA. This research holds promise to provide treatment for this disease. Read more: Guo, Pengbo, Bettina A. Buttaro, Hui Yi Xue, Ngoc T. Tran, and Ho Lun Wong. "Bone-targeting lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles for less invasive, injectable local antibiotic treatment of bone infections by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)." International Journal of Pharmaceutics (2025): 126539. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378517325013766

“Effective treatment of osteomyelitis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) requires sufficiently high antibiotic concentrations at the infected bone sites. Local drug therapy such as antibiotic-impregnated beads or cement is a valuable option but requires invasive surgical procedures for implantation and sometimes removal. In this study, lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles decorated with alendronate, known as bone-targeting nanoparticles (BTN), were tailored for local antibiotic treatment of MRSA-osteomyelitis in a bone-targeting fashion. BTN loading linezolid demonstrated size around 100 nm in diameter that remained stable in serum- or calcium- supplemented medium, encapsulation efficiency around 60 % and controlled drug release properties, and were shown to be significantly more effective than free linezolid against MRSA both in their biofilm and intracellular forms. Significant bone-targeting affinity was demonstrated in hydroxyapatite screening (5.5-fold enhancement over no-alendronate nanoparticles) and ex vivo porcine bone model. BTN injected into animal legs resulted in lasting local bone-accumulation of nanoparticles with minimal distribution to most remote organs, leading to up to 34.9-fold antibiotic level enhancement at the injected bone legs over free drug group. In animal osteomyelitis model, BTN groups achieved multiple log10 scale reduction (p < 0.01) in bacteria CFU counts post-treatment with less blood platelet count reduction (p < 0.05) when compared with free drug group. Overall, this study highlights the excellent potential of a more active, less invasive nanodelivery-based approach for targeting those poorly accessible MRSA pathogens of osteomyelitis.”

Benchtop to Bedside with MidWest GMP https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

PLGA from Akina, Inc. used in development of microneedle patches for transdermal delivery of biologics.

 

Microneedles are a series of small, polymeric pointed features that penetrate the skin very slightly and allow for transdermal drug delivery. Researchers at University of Missouri-Kansas City used PLGA (Cat# AP320, https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AP320#h) from PolySciTech : Akina, Inc. (www.PolySciTech.com) to develop microneedles loaded with peptides or proteins. This research holds promise to provide for transdermal delivery of these medicines. Read more: Hasan, Reaid, Yuhan Guo, Zhen Zhao, Yongren Li, Umar-Farouk Mamani, and Kun Cheng. "An Emulsion-Based Microneedle Formulation for Transdermal Delivery of Peptide Therapeutics." ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering (2025). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.5c01566

“Polymeric microneedle patches represent a promising noninvasive platform for the transdermal delivery of peptide and protein therapeutics, and FDA-approved polymers are widely used for this purpose. However, maintaining peptide and protein stability during microneedle fabrication remains a significant challenge. Conventional strategies involve encapsulating within polymer nanoparticles/microparticles, or codissolving them with polymers in organic solvents before microneedle fabrication. These approaches are time-consuming and often lead to low loading efficiency and drug loss. In this study, we developed a novel direct emulsion-based encapsulation strategy that integrates peptides within the PLGA matrix during microneedle formation. This approach generates a uniform water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion that ensures homogeneous peptide dispersion while minimizing interfacial stress, eliminating the need for multistep spraying or postloading processes. The optimized PLGA-based microneedles exhibited uniform geometry, high drug-loading capacity, and strong mechanical integrity suitable for skin penetration. The encapsulated peptide maintains its biological activity after fabrication and during storage, confirming excellent peptide stability. In vivo studies demonstrated successful skin insertion and sustained peptide release for up to 72 h, supporting the potential of this platform for prolonged transdermal peptide delivery. Overall, this work presents a scalable, biocompatible, and solvent-safe microneedle fabrication strategy that preserves peptide functionality while enabling controlled drug release, making it a promising strategy for transdermal peptide therapeutics.”

Benchtop to Bedside with MidWest GMP https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

PLGA from PolySciTech used in development of antigen delivery system for diagnostic applications

 

Immune system response is a critical parameter in inflammatory diseases, autoimmunity, cancer, and other pathological conditions. Researchers at University of Michigan and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute used PLGA (cat# AP125 and AP073) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to create antigen-conjugated scaffolds for T-cell analysis. This research holds promise to provide for diagnostic applications regarding the immune state in various pathological states. Read more: Wheeler, Sydney N., Mary E. Dickenson, Connor N. Joyce, Samantha N. Lukpat, Leon JMW Wagner, Andrés R. Muñoz-Rojas, and Aaron H. Morris. "Antigen-conjugated scaffolds enable sustained delivery of antigen and enrichment of antigen-specific T-cells." Journal of Controlled Release (2025): 114564. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168365925011782

“Conjugation of peptide to polymer enables precise loading of biomaterial scaffolds. Ag-conjugated scaffolds exhibit sustained release of biologically active antigen. Ag delivery enriches specific CD4 T-cell clones at defined locations in vivo. Platform can deliver various antigens, including autoantigens. Approach has potential utility to monitor rare Ag-specific cells without expansion. Abstract: A thorough understanding of T-cell dynamics and interactions could improve patient care in autoimmunity, cancer immunotherapy, and myriad other conditions, yet monitoring antigen-specific T-cell clones is challenging. T-cells recognize antigens presented by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in the context of major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs). Specific T-cell clones are rare in the blood (<1 in 100,000), and thus cell expansion which consequently alters cell phenotype and function is typically necessary before analysis. This motivates the development of new methods for enriching T-cell populations of interest without phenotypically altering them. Recent work has demonstrated that implantable biomaterial systems can recruit disease-relevant cells in autoimmune conditions, and that if antigens are present, antigen-specific T-cells become enriched in these materials. To date, antigen-loaded materials have exhibited uncontrolled loading, burst release, and subsequent T-cell exhaustion. In this report, we engineer a novel biomaterial antigen delivery system by conjugating antigens to the polymer backbone prior to porous scaffold fabrication. We demonstrate that this technique enables precise antigen loading via ratiometric mixing of modified and unmodified polymer. We show controlled release of antigen into the microenvironment and demonstrate that released antigen is processed and presented by APCs. Using this fabrication method, we achieve sustained release of peptide antigens over a period of 3 weeks in vitro. When implanted in healthy mice, these antigen-conjugated scaffolds are invaded by host myeloid and lymphoid cells and exhibit a dose-dependent enrichment of systemically circulating antigen-specific T-cell populations, while avoiding significant T-cell exhaustion. Finally, we apply this system to an autoantigen from multiple sclerosis (MS) and show release and interaction with autoantigen-specific T-cells. Using this technique, disease-relevant T-cells can be recruited for diagnostic assessment or for immunological research. Future work will investigate the potential of these systems to monitor disease onset and progression in vivo, co-deliver multiple antigens for assessment of epitope spreading, therapeutically target disease-relevant cells within a local niche in situ, and expand the platform for controlled delivery of therapeutic peptides in models beyond autoimmunity.”

PLGA (https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AP125#h , https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AP073#h)

Benchtop to Bedside with MidWest GMP https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 4/29/26: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)

PLGA-PEG-NHS from PolySciTech:Akina used in development of camptothecin-loaded nanoparticles for cancer therapy

 

One method to treat cancer is to induce apoptosis, programmed cellular death, of the cancer cells. Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast and Juntendo University School of Medicine used PLGA-PEG-NHS (Cat# AI064) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to create targeted nanoparticles for treatment of cancer. This research holds promise to provide for improved cancer therapies in the future. Read more: Boland, Anna J., Michelle K. Greene, Úna M. Herron, Michael C. Johnston, Peter Smyth, Hideo Yagita, Daniel B. Longley, and Christopher J. Scott. "Antitumor Activity of Death Receptor 5-Targeted Camptothecin-Loaded Nanoparticles in Murine Syngeneic Models." Biomacromolecules (2025). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.biomac.5c01884

“Death receptor 5 (DR5) is a key mediator of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway that is often upregulated in tumors, rendering it an attractive target for cancer therapy. Activation of DR5 requires oligomerization, which can be achieved through multivalent presentation of DR5 ligands on nanoparticles. DR5-targeted nanoparticles can efficiently agonize DR5 to inhibit the growth of human xenografts, although it remains unclear whether these effects would translate to a syngeneic tumor model with an immunocompetent microenvironment. Here, we develop camptothecin-loaded polymeric nanoparticles coated with the murine DR5 antibody MD5–1 and demonstrate their pro-apoptotic effects in murine cell lines in vitro. Moreover, we show that these nanoparticles inhibit the growth of MC38 colorectal allografts in vivo by >90% relative to control nanoparticles. Collectively, our work confirms that the antitumor efficacy of DR5-targeted nanoparticles extends to syngeneic models, paving the way for future studies to explore their impact on tumor immunity and the surrounding microenvironment.”

PLGA-PEG-NHS (https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AI064#h)

Benchtop to Bedside with MidWest GMP https://www.akinainc.com/midwestgmp/

Corbion Purasorb® Polymers: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/purasorb/

Ashland-TM Polymer Products: https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/ashland/

BPR Akina's Free Scientific Conference (West Lafayette, 4/29/26: (https://akinainc.com/bprconference/)