Injectable, long-acting PLGA formulations: Analyzing PLGA and understanding microparticle formation

Injectable, long-acting depot formulations based on poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) have been used clinically since 1989. Despite 30 years of development, however, there are only 19 different drugs in PLGA formulations approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The difficulty in developing depot formulations stems in large part from the lack of a clear molecular understanding of PLGA polymers and a mechanistic understanding of PLGA microparticles formation. The difficulty is readily apparent by the absence of approved PLGA-based generic products, limiting access to affordable medicines to all patients. PLGA has been traditionally characterized by its molecular weight, lactide:glycolide (L:G) ratio, and end group. Characterization of non-linear PLGA, such as star-shaped glucose-PLGA, has been difficult due to the shortcomings in analytical methods typically used for PLGA. In addition, separation of a mixture of different PLGAs has not been previously identified, especially when only their L:G ratios are different while the molecular weights are the same. New analytical methods were developed to determine the branch number of star-shaped PLGAs, and to separate PLGAs based on L:G ratios regardless of the molecular weight. A deeper understanding of complex PLGA formulations can be achieved with these new characterization methods. Such methods are important for further development of not only PLGA depot formulations with controllable drug release kinetics, but also generic formulations of current brand-name products.