Supporting the Advancement of Drug-Eluting Devices
Presenting alternative methods for addition of API to silicone components for drug-eluting medical devices
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Drug device combination products are increasingly being used in the treatment and control of medical conditions, as they offer several advantages when compared with drug delivery via oral, injection, and infusion methods. For this reason, drug-eluting medical device products have seen a surge in development, in particular those that elute regular controlled doses of drugs precisely and consistently to a treatment area.
Drug device combination products (defined as medical devices integrated with drugs) can be produced in and by a variety of materials and processes. Silicone is one of the most successful materials used for combination products, particularly for implantable products and is the focus of this whitepaper.
This whitepaper compares two different methods for adding the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) to silicone:
- Adding the API to raw silicone
- Impregnation of the vulcanized silicone with the API by immersion
The paper takes a closer look at the newer method of impregnation and presents test results proving the effectiveness of this method, which potentially opens drug-eluting devices to delivery of a wider range of API.