Evonik is developing a novel biodegradable polymer platform that will form the basis for the next generation of its EUDRAGIT® functional excipients for oral drug delivery. The polymers combine a biodegradable end-of-life profile with performance comparable to today’s industry standards for solubility enhancement and delayed-release coatings. Material is currently available in non-commercial lab-scale volumes for joint development projects with selected partners.
“Sustainability is becoming a design criterion in pharmaceutical development, alongside quality, efficacy and safety. With the next generation of EUDRAGIT®, we are moving from measuring sustainability to actively engineering it. This opens up new possibilities for formulators to choose both functionality and a biodegradable end-of-life profile in materials they can process with the equipment and methods they already use,” said Thilo Krapfl, Head of Oral Drug Delivery Solutions at Evonik Health Care.
Biodegradable excipients are increasingly desirable because they allow pharmaceutical companies to build sustainability into drug products from the design stage. Biodegradability can help reduce environmental persistence while maintaining the functionality needed for effective oral drug delivery. The new polymers are classified as biodegradable according to standardized testing (OECD 301 F and OECD 301 B (>60%).
