I-Corps: Vaginal Drug Delivery System

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project involves creation of a more effective sustained release method of delivering vaginal medications to women for treatment of postmenopausal vaginal dryness and pain, as well as recurring infections. The technology may ultimately address other applications, including the delivery of antibiotics. There is a significant need for improved vaginal medication administration; Conditions such as postmenopausal atrophy affects millions of women in the United States. This novel delivery platform addresses a current need in vaginal drug delivery and can be leveraged to deliver other medications vaginally.This I-Corps project is aimed at developing a next generation vaginal drug delivery platform. The solution combines known biopolymers with commonly used medications that can deliver drug therapies in a sustained released fashion. The drug delivery system has been designed for ease of application and sustained, long-term release through bioabsorbable polymers. The biopolymer will be combined with known and commonly used medications in order to deliver a long term, slow release of the drug. Early in vitro studies have demonstrated sustained release of estrogen for up to 80 days and early in vivo studies have demonstrated the safety of the platform.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.