EXPLORING THE ROLE OF POLYMERS IN PHARMACEUTICAL EXCIPIENTS

The current review article focuses on polymers in the pharmaceutical drug delivery of therapeutic agents. These dosage forms include tablets, patches, tapes, films, semisolids and powders. Polymers are the backbone of a pharmaceutical drug delivery system as they control the release of the drug from the device. Biodegradable polymers attract attention because they can be degraded to non‐toxic monomers. Most importantly, a constant rate of drug release can be achieved from a biodegradable polymer-based controlled-release device. Natural polymers can be used as the means of achieving predetermined rates of drug delivery and their physico‐chemical characteristics with the ease of availability provide a platform to use it as a polymer for drug delivery systems. Biodegradable polymers have been widely used in biomedical applications because of their known biocompatibility and biodegradability. In the biomedical area, polymers are generally used as implants and are expected to perform long-term service. These improvements contribute to making medical treatment more efficient and to minimize side effects and other types of inconveniences for patients. The main role of the polymer is to protect the drug from the physiological environment and prolong the release of the drug to improve its stability. The drug is released from the polymer by diffusion, degradation and swelling. In addition to this review presents characteristics and behaviours of plant-derived and mucoadhesive polymers, which are currently used in drug delivery. This paper aims to comprehensively explore the structural characteristics, functional applications, and future prospects of polymers as pharmaceutical excipients, highlighting their crucial role in modern drug delivery technologies.