Market Assessment of Therapeutic Coordination Polymers Containing Pharmaceuticals and Bis-Imidazole Linkers for Drug Release Applications

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Considerable time and resources are required to develop new pharmaceuticals and make new medical treatments available. Researchers at the University of Windsor have taken an alternative approach by incorporating existing medications into controlled release materials to improve their performance and speed up their development time. The materials developed are referred to as Therapeutic Coordination Polymers (TCPs), and are constructed from a unique combination of three principal components, i) inorganic metal centers, ii) anionic pharmaceuticals, and iii) small organic molecules which can behave as a "linker" joining the metal centers. More specifically, the team developed a series of biodegradable TCPs with various cationic metal ions, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and various alkyl chain length bis-imidazole linkers. TCPs offer several unique advantages as drug release materials including: i) rapid and scalable synthesis ii) highly consistent drug loading iii) high drug uptake ~60-70 wt%, iv) biocompatibility, and v) most importantly, an extreme degree of control over their drug release rate which can be tailored for desired applications. Whether drugs are taken in the form of a pill or implanted after surgery in the form of a small degradable implant, TCPs could impact several different routes of drug administration. Overall, this research program has broad applications in many areas of drug release and has the potential to make a significant economic benefit and health benefit to the lives of Canadians.