Polymer degradation and drug delivery in PLGA‐based drug–polymer applications: A review of experiments and theories

Abstract Poly (lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) copolymers have been broadly used in controlled drug release applications. Because these polymers are biodegradable, they provide an attractive option for drug delivery vehicles. There are a variety of material, processing, and physiological factors that impact the degradation rates of PLGA polymers and concurrent drug release kinetics. This work is intended to provide a comprehensive and collective review of the physicochemical and physiological factors that dictate the degradation behavior of PLGA polymers and drug release from contemporary PLGA‐based drug–polymer products. In conjunction with the existing experimental results, analytical and numerical theories developed to predict drug release from PLGA‐based polymers are summarized and correlated with the experimental observations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 1692–1716, 2017.