Biodegradable Block Copolymers and Their Applications for Drug Delivery

Abstract Recently, biodegradable block copolymers (BBCs) have gained enormous interest to be used for various biomedical purposes, such as drug delivery, gene delivery, tissue engineering, diagnosis, theragnosis etc. These BBCs utilize components such as poly(ethylene glycol), PEG; poly( d , l -lactic acid- co -glycolic acid), PLGA; poly ( l -caprolactone), and PCL; poly( l -lactic acid), Poly(ether ester amide), PEEA; and PLA to name a few. These materials offer the advantage of being used as a biomaterial with amphiphilic characteristics and targeting the moieties to a specific site. This chapter provides a comprehensive summary about these BBCs and their application in different areas of biomedical research. The types of biodegradable polymers, physicochemical properties, methods of preparation, packaging and sterilization aspects with a crosstalk discussion on some BBCs have also been discussed in this chapter.