Important properties polymeric drug carriers

Unless a carrier conjugate can fulfill the prerequisities listed under (1), (2) and (3), its usefulness is severely limited. Only when a carrier meets requirements (l)- 3) is it necessary to consider the clinical implications of (4) and (5). Fig. 4 illustrates the basic requirements of the polymeric carrier and the characteristic of both a linear and crosslinked polymer. In the following section examples of soluble synthetic polymers specifically synthesized with respect to biomedical applications are given and the importance of their properties relative to polymeric drug carriers is discussed. 

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