Recent Advances in Polymeric Platforms for Prodrug Development and Controlled Drug Delivery

Abstract

The combination of polymeric materials and prodrug chemistry has reformed drug delivery by presenting specific, precise, and targeted therapeutic release. This review provides the informations on progresses in polymeric materials for prodrug design, focusing on their importance in improving bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, and site-specific activation. Polymers play role as dedicated carriers that enhance solubility, stability, and biocompatibility while shortening toxicity. Novel polymeric designs, such as stimuli responsive micelles, nanogels, and amphiphilic conjugates coordinated release as a response to the stimuli: pH, enzyme, or redox potential gradient, mostly in cancer and inflammatory disease therapy. Prodrug approaches including carrier-linked, bio-precursor, and site-specific designs are deliberated in light of enzyme-activated, photo, and radiotherapy responsive systems. Challenges persist in large scale synthesis, clinical translation, and patient specific differences. Impending directions highlight the merging of artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine, and bioorthogonal chemistry to create personalized and multifunctional polymer-prodrug delivery systems that can significantly boost therapeutic precision.