February 10, 2017
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have reconfigured a popular drug-delivery technology to evade immune responses that have halted some clinical trials.
Polyethylene glycol, commonly known as PEG, is a polymer commonly found in commercial products from toothpaste to cosmetics, and also in pharmaceuticals. PEG is used as a thickener, solvent, softener and moisture-carrier, but it can also be attached to active drugs in the bloodstream to slow the body’s clearing of them, greatly lengthening the duration of their effects.