Effect of drug type on the degradation rate of PLGA matrices.

We compare the rate of drug release through the degradation of 50:50 polylactic-co-glycolic acid polymer pellets, for six different drugs: Thiothixene, Haloperidol, Hydrochlorothiozide, Corticosterone, Ibuprofen, and Aspirin. Despite using the same polymer matrix and drug loading (20% by weight), we find that the rate of polymer degradation and the drug release profile differ significantly between the drugs. We conclude that the design of biodegradable polymeric drug carriers with high drug loadings must account for the effect of the drug on the polymer degradation and drug release rate.