화학공학소재연구정보센터
Chemical Engineering Science, Vol.166, 122-129, 2017
Printing particles: A high-throughput technique for the production of uniform, bioresorbable polymer microparticles and encapsulation of therapeutic peptides
Bioresorbable polymer microparticles are widely used to provide long-lasting drug delivery in several chronic diseases. Having fine control over the physical properties of such microparticles can improve product reproducibility, performance and process efficiency. By using an ink-jet based droplet generator device, a new approach to microparticle manufacture was explored that uses an extremely rapid phase-separation to produce highly uniform, injectable microparticles from PLGA and a PLA/PLGA blend. To demonstrate the possible pharmaceutical applicability of the microparticle printing technique, the approved peptides ciclosporin A and octreotide were formulated, producing low-density microparticles that showed between sustained release over several months. The facile scale-up of the technique was demonstrated by using an array of 256 ink-jet nozzles, allowing over 1 million discrete particles per second to be produced. The new apparatus and methods described herein could be used across a wide range of biomaterials and therapeutic compounds. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.