PRODUCTION OF POLYMER MICROPARTICLES FOR PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS BY SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION OF EMULSIONS

摘要

The biodegradable polymer PLGA is an interesting excipient for pharmaceutical purposes such as controlled drug release and drug targeting. Drug-entrapping micro-particles with a narrow particle size distribution are desired for such applications. In this work, we investigate a novel process for the production of such particles, namely supercritical fluid extraction of emulsions, and demonstrate its potential by producing spherical, submicron PLGA particles with a homogeneous size distribution.