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Category: Innovation Bonds

New Polyurethane Pharmaceutical Excipient Created

The Lubrizol Corporation’s LifeScience Polymer Market announced an innovative pharmaceutical-grade polyurethane that can be used in continuous drug delivery. This polyurethane application is being studied to relieve pain in cancer patients, combat HIV, act as an effective birth control method, and be used as a continuous drug delivery system for additional applications.

The wide variety of uses of this excipient-grade polyurethane is the result of its ability to slowly release drugs into a human’s body without degrading or breaking. Polyurethane’s durability helps ensure that the substance can remain intact inside the body for periods of up to eighteen months or more, facilitating the continuous release of drugs.

Polyurethane can be processed at high temperatures so that a wide variety of heat-sensitive drugs can be used. It is also important to note that polyurethane comes in both hydrophobic and hydrophilic grades, further widening the number and types of drugs that can be used in these novel drug delivery systems.

The Lubrizol LifeScience Polymer Market has been heavily involved in medical polyurethane innovation for decades, having previously introduced such polyurethane products used in ventricular assist devices and vascular prostheses. The invention of new pharmaceutical polyurethane for use implants and other drug delivery systems marks a watershed moment for polyurethane’s healthcare applications, and a critical advancement in drug delivery methods.