Stimuli-responsive polymers for ocular therapy

Abstract Ocular drug delivery (ODD) imposes challenges to the formulation scientist because of physiological constraints. The use of stimuli-responsive polymers in ophthalmic formulations results in increase in absorption of drug as well as residence time. In recent years, pharmaceutical formulations based on stimuli-responsive polymers have gained increasing interest especially in the fields of targeted and controlled drug delivery systems. Stimuli-sensitive polymers such as thermo-responsive, pH-sensitive, ion-sensitive, or dual-responsive polymers are utilized in ODD systems. This chapter focuses on the recent developments, current applications, and future trends dealing with stimuli-responsive polymers in the field of ODD. This chapter also outlines various ophthalmic formulations based on stimuli-responsive polymers.