Functional polymeric systems applied to biomaterials for the delivery of therapeutic agents

This research activity consists of modifying medical devices in order to attribute them controlled release properties of therapeutic agents.

The means that are employed are based on the use of cyclodextrin which presents the capability to form inclusion complexes with a wide range of drugs. Due to the reversibility of these complexes, the host molecule can be slowly released with unchanged properties. Our team has patented a reaction and a process based on green chemistry that allows fixing cyclodextrin under its polymeric form onto the surface or into the porosity of a wide range of polymeric, mineral and metallic supports under various shapes. The recent developments in our laboratory consist of functionalizing medical devices for orthopedic, vascular and so on surgery fields, in order to transform them in drug delivery systems. The goal was to release antibiotics for the prevention of post operatory infections whose treatment are costfull and often involve mortality of the patients.

This work is realized in the frame of a collaboration with the “Groupe de Recherches sur les Biomatériaux” of the Lille 2 University (law and health) and in the network of regional labs that build up the “federation Biomatériaux du Nord Pas de Calais”.